PHNOM PENH
\nCambodia\u2019s ruling party said on Monday it had won the majority of parliamentary seats in a weekend election, as critics including the United States slammed the poll as \u201cneither free nor fair\u201d. The Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP), which ran virtually unopposed, said it won 120 out of 125 seats, cementing Prime Minister Hun Sen\u2019s grip on the country\u2019s political landscape ahead of a possible transition of power to his son Hun Manet. \u201cWe didn\u2019t just win the election but we won it in a landslide,\u201d said CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan.
\n\u201cWe have no option but to continue to serve the people with happiness.\u201d
\nThe National Election Committee website on Monday showed it was still in the process of counting ballots, but did not comment on the results.
\nHun Sen, 70, has ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, with an increasingly heavy hand in recent years that has all but wiped out the opposition.
\nIn the run-up to the election, the only meaningful opposition the Candlelight Party was disqualified from the race on a technicality, and anyone boycotting the poll was threatened with penalties.
\nLast week, Hun Sen signalled that Western-educated military general Hun Manet \u201ccould be\u201d prime minister by next month.
\nHun Manet, who ran for office for the first time, won a seat representing Phnom Penh in the national assembly, according to the CPP.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PHNOM PENH Cambodia\u2019s ruling party said on Monday it had won the majority of parliamentary seats in a weekend election, as critics including the United States slammed the poll as \u201cneither free nor fair\u201d. The Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP), which ran virtually unopposed, said it won 120 out of 125 seats, cementing Prime Minister Hun […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":345232,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-345194","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n