2013 Cambodian general election

The previous general elections in 2008 were won by the Cambodian People's Party, which managed to secure an absolute majority of the seats: 90 out of 123. Despite winning a parliamentary majority, the CPP chose to form a coalition with the royalist FUNCINPEC, which won 2 seats. The opposition Sam Rainsy Party and Human Rights Party won a combined total of 29 seats. In 2012, the two parties merged to form the Cambodian National Rescue Party. However, party leader Sam Rainsy was barred from running as a candidate because he was not registered to vote.[4] The voter roll was finalised on 31 December 2012, at which time Rainsy was living abroad after being controversially convicted in 2010 of making changes to a map to suggest the country was losing land to neighbouring Vietnam.[5] Rainsy returned to Cambodia in July 2013 after he received a royal pardon from King Norodom Sihamoni,[5] but Rainsy failed to have his name reinstated on the voter roll and was not eligible for candidacy in the election.[4]

Cambodia had its first televised debate on 20 and 21 July. The US-funded National Democratic Institute also sponsored nine town hall-style debates with provincial candidates from almost all parties.[6]

The ruling CPP party received 48.83% of the votes, earned 68 seats, while the CNRP party won 55 seats with 44.46% of the vote. By losing 22 seats from the previous election, the CPP earned the fewest percentage of seats that it has had in the National Assembly since 1998.[8] Other parties, including the Funcinpec Party and League for Democracy Party combined for 0 seats on 6.3% of the vote.[11]

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Cambodian People's Party	3,235,969	48.83	68	–22
	Cambodia National Rescue Party	2,946,176	44.46	55	+26
	FUNCINPEC	242,413	3.66	0	–2
	League for Democracy Party	68,389	1.03	0	0
	Khmer Anti-Poverty Party	43,222	0.65	0	0
	Cambodian Nationality Party	38,123	0.58	0	New
	Republican Democracy Party	33,715	0.51	0	New
	Khmer Economic Development Party	19,152	0.29	0	New
Total		6,627,159	100.00	123	0
Valid votes		6,627,159	98.40
Invalid/blank votes		108,085	1.60
Total votes		6,735,244	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		9,675,453	69.61
Source: National Election Committee

The CPP claimed victory in the election.[12] The European Union and United States expressed concern about possible irregularities, with the latter's State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki saying that "we call for a transparent and full investigation of all credible reports of irregularities. We urge all parties and their supporters to continue to act in an orderly and peaceful manner in the post-election period."[13] Vietnam congratulated Cambodia on the success of its 5th General Elections.[14] French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott sent their letter of endorsement, congratulating Hun Sen on his election win.[15]

Though there were claims that the election would be "worthless" even before voting started,[12] after the election, there were complaints of election fraud. Sam Rainsy, the leader of the CNRP, declared that "We will not accept the result – we cannot accept the result...The party in power cannot ignore us anymore."[8] The international non-governmental organisation Human Rights Watch (HRW) issued a statement that read that "the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) appears to have been involved in electoral fraud" and called for an "independent commission" to investigate "allegations of election fraud and other irregularities, including bias in the election machinery".[7] Brad Adams, HRW's Asia Director, further stated that some of the fraud consisted of "senior ruling party officials appear to have been involved in issuing fake election documents and fraudulently registering voters in multiple provinces."[7] The Cambodian government denied calls by international organisations for an independent election review,[16] while the government rejected calls for a review[13] and the National Election Committee (NEC) denied irregularities. There were also claims of voter intimidation as the ruling party controlled the apparatus of state control.[12]

Thousands of CNRP supporters gathered in Phnom Penh in September to protest the results.[17]