Quotations from U.S. Government Reports and Important Individuals

Quotes from Stanley O. Roth, Assistant Secretary for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, U.S Department of States, Washington D.C
October 2, 1998
http://www.state.gov/www/policy_remarks/1998

"Moreover, almost 16,000 domestic and international poll monitors on the ground concurred that barring one deadly attack by Khmer Rouge terrorists on poll officials, Cambodians cast their votes in an environment that was peaceful, orderly, and free from intimidation."

"The election results indicate that Cambodians indeed voted freely.
Still, while in the end Hun Sen's CPP won a plurality of the vote."

"After the July 26 vote, opposition figures raised charges of vote fraud and manipulation of the formula for apportioning parliamentary seats. While the NEC and the constitutional councils adjudicated some of the opposition's initial claims, these bodies summarily dismissed a substantial number of recount requests and refused to address the seat allotment controversy. It is true that initial recounts carried out by the NEC substantiated the original vote and proved many opposition allegations frivolous."

"The limited recounts thus far conducted showed no substantial change in numbers, and a parallel vote conducted by the independent Cambodian NGO (COMFREL) which fielded over 15,000 poll watchers also tallied a clear CPP plurality."

"Hun Sen's initial attempts to form a government with the opposition were simply not acceptable, having offered only token appointments to the opposition while retaining all major ministries for the CPP. At the same time, the opposition's effort to provoke a constitutional crisis by refusing to seat the Parliament by the September 24 deadline were counterproductive, serving only escalate tensions and threaten instability."