July
28, 2013 was the important day of the fifth national election process in
Cambodia. After the unusual movement throughout Cambodia on Saturday to the
election center was completed, the vote was done on Sunday from 7:00AM to
3:00PM with the cold weather and raining. One by one came to the center, but
there were not many people during 7:00AM; they came to vote later until 3:00PM.
Both election committee and voters cooperated very well in most of the election
center. However, only some centers encountered the conflict because of the attendance
of Vietnamese voters that caused Cambodian residents to get very angry,
especially a center in Phnom Penh. There is no clear information yet regarding
to this issue why Vietnamese voters appeared in these centers. Even though there
was the bad information on the conflict in Phnom Penh, the other election
centers completed their mission and got the vote from most of citizens until
3:00PM. Then the election committee in each center along with other stakeholder
like COMFREL counted the vote for 8 political parties; only two parties showed the
strong support are CPP (Cambodian People Party) and CNRP (Cambodian National
Rescue Party). Within the Sangkat and Commune level, there is the tough
competition of the vote in each province-city. At last, the temporary result
from Bayon TV in the evening of July 28, 2013 showed that the winner is CPP for
most of province-city while CNRP won only in 5 province-city such Phnom Penh,
Kompong Cham, Kandal, Prey Veng, and Kompong Speu. It should be noticed that
CNRP seems to get more support in the residential center than CPP. For
instance, CNRP won the election at Sangkat Svay Por of Battambang Town. In
short, there will be the real figure for who is the winner after the
verification completed and internationally acknowledged as well as the right solution for the
current issue occurring during the election process. Anyway, CNRP and CPP will
be expected to hold hand for the next mandate since they seem to get similar
seat; the political stability and strong economic growth are the things the
residents wish for after this election. Personally, there is an appeal for all
to use the peaceful method to solve any political conflicts for the benefits of
Cambodia. “Please refer to the past experience before you take any actions!”
By:
Pok Panhavuth
