SINGAPORE: Cambodia goes to the polls on Sunday to elect a new parliament, with eleven political parties running for 123 seats in the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is widely expected to win the majority of seats. The Cambodian prime minister has led his country, which is still recovering from two decades of civil war, into double-digit economic growth.

Verghese Mathews, former Singapore ambassador to Cambodia who has witnessed the country's turnaround, said the prime minister should be widely credited.

He said: "There can be no doubt that Hun Sen was pivotal in this particular success story. He had a vision and he was tireless in pursuing it. Hun Sen got around him a group of young, competent, well-educated, highly motivated officials. These officials are really – to a large extent and beyond doubt – committed to Cambodia."

But with 35 per cent of the population still living below the poverty line, Cambodia remains one of the world's poorest countries.

Mr Hun Sen's government has also been criticised for corruption and Sam Rainsy, who leads the main opposition party that bears his name, is hoping that people will vote for change.

"There's intimidation. The village chief last night and even this morning threatened people not to join the SRP (Sam Rainsy Party) meeting today, but even so, there are many people attending this meeting," Mr Sam Rainsy said.

Such allegations are being investigated by European observers deployed across the country's 22 provinces and municipalities. With 130 observers, the EU Election Observation Mission is the biggest international group monitoring the polls.

Martin Callanan, a British member of the European Parliament, heads the team.

He said: "There have been lots of allegations and I, personally, have seen some of the reports that have been produced. We take this very seriously and we are investigating every report that is made to us.

"What I can say is that the number of complaints and allegations of violence and intimidation have been fewer than what we've seen in previous elections."

Observers said preparations on the ground are going smoothly and some eight million voters are expected to cast their ballots.

The CPP won 73 seats in the 2003 elections. Now that the constitution has been amended to allow any party with a simple majority to form a government, the CPP is hoping to do just that, for the first time in Cambodia's history.


- CNA/so