Cambodia : Cambodians go to polls as
PM Hun Sen seeks to extend grip on power
The former Khmer Rouge fighter turned prime minister appears so confident of victory that he did not even bother to personally campaign for the parliamentary election.
Galvanised by the return from exile of their leader Sam Rainsy, his political foes have injected some rare competition into the race.
But the opposition has also decried signs of voter fraud and warned a Hun Sen win will be "worthless" without Mr Rainsy's participation.
The French-educated former banker returned to Cambodia on July 19 from self-imposed exile after receiving a surprise royal pardon for criminal convictions which he contends were politically motivated.
But he is barred from running as a candidate since the authorities said it was too late to add his name to the electoral register.
"If the prime minister wants to keep his position he must be brave enough to confront me," Mr Rainsy said on the eve of the vote.
"It's very unfair and shows that the current prime minister is really a coward," he added.
His Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) says many names have disappeared from the electoral roll while thousands of people could not vote as someone else had already used their ballot.
Party spokesman said Yim Sovann the ink used for voting was also easily washed off.
"The situation is more serious than at any previous election," he said.
Ruling party confident of landslide
New York-based Human Rights Watch has warned the vote will be anything but free and fair, highlighting alleged manipulation of voter rolls and campaigning by senior security forces officers for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).
"The process has been manipulated to ensure victory for the ruling party," said HRW Asia director Brad Adams.
While the government denies the allegations, CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith said the party was confident of another landslide.
"We expect to keep an absolute majority," he said.
About 9.6 million people are registered to vote - more than one-third of whom are below the age of 30.
Hun Sen oversaw Cambodia's transformation from a nation devastated by the Killing Fields genocide era to become one of Southeast Asia's most vibrant economies.
The 60-year-old premier - who has vowed to rule until he is 74 - is regularly accused of trampling on human rights and quashing political dissent.
And while garment exports and tourism have brought double-digit economic growth, Cambodia remains one of the world's poorest countries.
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