1998 Cambodian general election

General elections were held in Cambodia on 26 July 1998. The result was a victory for the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which won 64 of the 122 seats, resulting in its leader Hun Sen becoming Prime Minister. Opposition parties sought a recount and claimed there had been irregularities, claims supported by many international observers. Voter turnout was 93.7%.^[1]

1998 Cambodian general election

← 1993 26 July 1998 2003 →
All 122 seats in the National Assembly 62 seats needed for a majority
Registered	5,395,595 13.2pp
Turnout	93.7% ( 4.1pp)
First party Second party Third party   Leader Hun Sen Norodom Ranariddh Sam Rainsy Party CPP FUNCINPEC SRP Last election 38.2%, 51 seats 45.5%, 58 seats – Seats won 64 43 15 Seat change 13 15 New Popular vote 2,030,790 1,554,405 699,665 Percentage 41.4% 31.7% 14.3% Swing 3.1pp 13.8pp New
Prime Minister before election Ung Huot Norodom Ranariddh Elected Prime Minister Hun Sen CPP

Background

Following the disputed 1993 general elections, Norodom Ranariddh of FUNCINPEC and Hun Sen of the CPP had become co-Prime Ministers. In July 1997, Sen forced Ranariddh out of government after a dispute on to handle rebellious members of FUNCINPEC and former Khmer Rouge leaders. Ranariddh was subsequently replaced by Ung Huot. The removal of Ranariddh led to at least 89 extra-judicial killings.^[2]

General elections were announced for May 1998, but were later postponed until July by the National Assembly as preparations including voter registration were running late.^[3]

On 30 March 1997 an opposition rally outside the National Assembly was hit by a grenade attack, with at least 16 killed and 100 injured.^[2]

Electoral system

The 122 members of the National Assembly were elected by closed list proportional representation from 21 multi-member constituencies based on the provinces.

There were 1,380 individual polling stations. At the end of polling, ballot boxes were taken to Commune Election Commissions set up by the National Election Committee (NEC) and were counted the next day. Statements regarding the count were added up at the Provincial Election Commissions, and the national tally made at the NEC. Parties could make complaints at any of the four levels during the count.^[4]

The results were countersigned and the statement of the count were announced outside the counting centers.

Conduct

The observation of the election was coordinated by the United Nations with its Joint International Observer Group (JIOG), which consisted of European Union and ASEAN representatives. More than 500 foreign monitors worked alongside a national observer group to keep track of the voting process.

Many observers and other international organizations reported that the electoral process was heavily influenced by the CPP and that there had been intimidation, violence, coercion, lack of accountability and transparency.^[2] Following the elections, opposition party politicians and activists were reported to be relocating towards provincial cities and Phnom Penh and many were concerned about concealing their location due to fear of persecution.^[5]

A lack of training, many complicated forms, and packing procedures caused difficulties with the election count, especially in areas with low levels of education, literacy, and electoral experience. The NEC noted that there was a lack of space and planning, to the point where it was difficult to retrieve controls and recounts. Ballot materials were stacked on top of each other, which made it hard for the NEC to deal with the large number of complaints and demands for recounts. In total there were 800 complaints filed, 304 passing preliminary investigation related to voter intimidation, recount demands, and other concerned programs.^[5]

Opinion polls

The Institut Francais de la Statistique, de Sondage d'Opinion et de Recherche sur le Cambodge (IFRASSORC),had conducted Opinion polls throughout the country, surveying a total of 1,875 people and each asking 3 questions.^[6]

This poll will show the choice of "Don't Know/No Opinion", but will not be factoring this choice.

Polling Firm	Fieldwork date	Sample Size	Most preferred Prime Minister
			Hun Sen	Norodom Ranariddh	Sam Rainsy	Pen Sovann	Son Sann	Other	Don't Know/No Opinion
IFRASSORC^[6]	3 Mar 1998	1,875
			16.6%	13.4%	7.8%	1.2%	0.4%	1.5	59.1%
			Do you want Prince Norodom Ranariddh to come back to Cambodia to compete in the next elections?
			Yes		No		Don't Know/No Opinion
			76.9%		3.7%		19.4%
			Do you want a ceasefire to be proclaimed all over Cambodia?
			Yes		No		Don't Know/No Opinion
			95.4%		3%		1.6%

Results

Party		Votes	%	Seats	+/–
	Cambodian People's Party	2,030,790	41.42	64	+13
	FUNCINPEC	1,554,405	31.71	43	–15
	Sam Rainsy Party	699,665	14.27	15	New
	Khmer Democratic Party	90,000	1.84	0	New
	Cambodian National Sustaining Party	71,093	1.45	0	New
	Liberal Democratic Party for National Salvation	46,424	0.95	0	New
	Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party	45,849	0.94	0	–10
	Nationalist Party	37,308	0.76	0	New
	Buddhist Liberal Party	32,959	0.67	0	New
	Khmer Angkor Party	26,482	0.54	0	New
	Cambodian Citizens' Party	23,713	0.48	0	New
	Cambodian Unity Party	19,232	0.39	0	New
	Party of Women Salvaging Cambodia	18,892	0.39	0	New
	Farmers' Party	15,597	0.32	0	New
	New Society Party	15,066	0.31	0	New
	Republican Coalition Party	14,869	0.30	0	0
	Liberal Democratic Party	14,088	0.29	0	0
	Social Beehive Democratic Party	13,952	0.28	0	New
	Free Development Republican Party	13,780	0.28	0	0
	Rally for National Solidarity	13,038	0.27	0	0
	National Unification Party	11,089	0.23	0	New
	National Restoration Party	10,451	0.21	0	New
	Light of Freedom Party	10,027	0.20	0	New
	MOULINAKA	8,395	0.17	0	–1
	Free Independent Democracy Party	3,938	0.08	0	0
	Neutral Democratic Party of Cambodia	3,869	0.08	0	0
	Free Republican Party	1,654	0.03	0	0
Twelve other parties		55,863	1.14	0	–
Total		4,902,488	100.00	122	+2
Valid votes		4,902,488	96.93
Invalid/blank votes		155,189	3.07
Total votes		5,057,677	100.00
Registered voters/turnout		5,395,595	93.74
Source: Nohlen et al.

Aftermath

On 30 June, there was controversy surrounding the seat allocation formula. The English-language press of Phnom Penh and opposition parties claimed that the formula had been tampered with after the election results have been collected in order to favor the CPP. Annex V of the Law on the Election of National Assembly described the seat allocation method and all parties were informed and agreed to it in June. However, there appeared to be a difference between the original Khmer version and the English version. The misunderstanding led to large protests from the opposition.^[5]

See also

• List of members of the National Assembly of Cambodia, 1998–2003

References

1. Dieter Nohlen, Florian Grotz & Christof Hartmann (2001) Elections in Asia: A data handbook, Volume II, p70 ISBN 0-19-924959-8
2. Downie, Sue (April 2000). "Cambodia's 1998 Election: Understanding Why it Was Not a 'Miracle on the Mekong'". Australian Journal of International Affairs. 54 (1): 43–61. doi:10.1080/00049910050007032. S2CID 154920354.
3. Elections held in 1998 IPU
4. Vander Weyden, Patrick (December 2000). "Parliamentary elections in Cambodia 1998". Electoral Studies. 19 (4): 615–621. doi:10.1016/S0261-3794(00)00004-4.
5. Vander Weyden, Patrick (December 2000). "Parliamentary elections in Cambodia 1998". Electoral Studies. 19 (4): 615–621. doi:10.1016/S0261-3794(00)00004-4.
6. Staff, Post. "Opinion Poll Results". phnompenhpost.com. Retrieved 2023-06-16.