Opposition protest continues in Phnom Penh
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Demonstrators unfazed by fatal clash on Sunday; PM, opposition leader meet
Talks aimed at resolving Cambodia’s political stalemate over disputed elections failed to stop protests yesterday after a five-hour meeting between Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
The talks at the parliament building came a day after clashes broke out between police and protesters, with one man shot dead and several wounded.
A joint statement released after the meeting by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) said negotiations aimed at solving the impasse were ongoing.
“Both parties agreed to solve the problem cordially ... and in the national interest,” government spokesman Phay Siphan said after the talks.
Strongman premier Hun Sen’s CPP officially won the ballot with 68 parliamentary seats to the CNRP’s 55. But the CNRP says it was robbed of victory and actually won the vote.
It has called for an independent investigation into the July 28 elections, and says if this is not forthcoming its candidates will refuse to take their seats in parliament.
Following yesterday’s talks, both sides have agreed to reform of the national election body – which has been widely derided as being a tool of the ruling party – as well as peaceful conduct of protests and further talks.
However, CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said it would continue to boycott parliament and “demand a special commission” to investigate the results.
He added that the protests would continue until today.
The CNRP, Cambodia’s main opposition party, has held several protests attended by tens of thousands of supporters calling for an inquiry over the past few weeks. Supporters flocked back into a park in the centre of the capital Phnom Penh yesterday.
Barricades built
Others, mainly people from the countryside who had travelled to the city for the protests, had camped overnight in the park, barricading themselves in with furniture.
A group of tuk-tuk drivers in the darkened park on Sunday night said they were not afraid to continue protesting, even though Sunday ended with one man shot dead after police reportedly opened fire into a crowd of rock-throwing protesters.
Phay Siphan, the government spokesman, said he regretted the death of the protester – who local newspapers named as Mao Chan, a 29-year-old father of four – but denied police had fired live rounds into the crowd.
“The police only shot tear gas,” he said, adding that he did not know who fired the guns.
Mu Sochua, a CNRP lawmaker-elect, expressed dismay at the clashes, stressing that the party had a policy of non-violence, and saying security had been disproportionate.
“We were really thinking it would be peaceful,” Mu Sochua said, noting that protesters in the park had mainly been singing and dancing on Sunday but “we were totally surrounded by barbed wire”.
“We totally regret this. Democracy is not through bullets,” she added.
