The European Union has suspended funding for Cambodia’s 2018 general election because the vote cannot be credible after the dissolution of the main opposition party, according to a letter sent to the national election committee on Tuesday. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) was dissolved by the country’s highest court last month at the request of the government of Prime Minister Hun Sen after the arrest of opposition leader Kem Sokha for alleged treason. “An electoral process from which the main opposition party has been arbitrarily excluded cannot be seen as legitimate,” read the Dec. 12 letter reviewed by Reuters.
“Under these circumstances, the European Union does not believe there is a possibility of a credible electoral process.”
The EU and Japan are the biggest donors to Cambodia’s election commission.
Phay Siphan, a spokesman for the government, said it was able to hold the election with its own money. “This is their will … we have our own money,” Phay Siphan told Reuters on Tuesday.
Full Article: EU suspends funding for Cambodian election.
