Hun Sen party claims win in Cambodian poll

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia, July 28 (UPI) -- Cambodia's People's Party, whose leader Hun Sen has been prime minister for 23 years, claimed a major victory in a Sunday election.

China's Xinhua news agency, quoting party officials, said the party, which currently holds 73 seats, claimed at least 88 seats in the 123-member National Assembly after Sunday's ballots had been counted. It was the fourth general election in the country.

The report, quoting a source at the CPP, said the major opposition Sam Rainsy Party had won 30 seats while the remaining seats were won by the new Human Rights Party and Norodom Ranariddh Party. Final results will not be known for several weeks.

More than 8.1 million had been registered to vote.

The country has been enjoying a decade of political stability and strong economic growth, the Financial Times reported.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said thousands of his supporters, mostly in Phnom Penh, were unable to vote as their names had been removed from voter lists, and vowed to organize large-scale demonstrations, the Voice of America said.

The report quoted international election monitors as saying it was too early to evaluate any electoral abuses, and the government has denied there were irregularities.

Elections have been held in the country since 1991, after the United Nations helped broker a peace between Cambodia's Vietnamese-backed government and the Khmer Rouge in 1991, the Financial Times said.