AFP/Phnom Penh

Cambodia’s newly returned opposition leader suffered a new setback yesterday in his attempt to stand in parliamentary elections Sunday, while poll monitors voiced concern at alleged irregularities.
Sam Rainsy returned to Cambodia last week 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.
After the National Election Committee (NEC) dismissed his appeal earlier this week, the ruling party-dominated parliament and the Constitutional Council yesterday both rejected his calls to intervene.
“This is a politically motivated case and the (ruling) Cambodian People’s Party is scared by Sam Rainsy’s popularity,” a spokesman for his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Yim Sovann, said.
“This clearly shows that the election is not going to be free and fair,” he said, adding that the opposition would try all possible ways to enable Rainsy to take part in the polls.
Yim Sovann said the party was considering whether to appeal to the King in a last-ditch attempt to enable Rainsy to run.
Cambodian rights groups voiced concern yesterday about irregularities before the election.
“There were some problems such as violence, arrests, threats and intimidation against opposition party supporters,” the groups, which include the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association and the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia, said in a joint statement.
The opposition accused supporters of Prime Minister Hun Sen’s party of responsibility for violence and intimidation against its own followers.
“The situation is getting worse,” Yim Sovann said, adding that “rocks were thrown at opposition supporters every day”.
Rainsy, seen as the only major challenger to Hun Sen, returned to Cambodia on July 19 from France, where he had lived since fleeing in 2009.
The 64-year-old had faced a total of 11 years in jail but was pardoned by King Sihamoni earlier this month at Hun Sen’s request.
Rainsy was stripped of his parliamentary seat in 2011 and removed from the electoral register late last year.  
Last month all 28 opposition MPs were stripped of their status by a committee made up of ruling party members, which accused them of violating parliament’s internal rules by joining forces to form a new party.
Unlike Rainsy, they are still allowed to take part in Sunday’s election.
Hun Sen is one of Southeast Asia’s longest-serving leaders. His CPP won the last two polls by a landslide amid allegations of fraud and election irregularities.
His government is regularly accused of suppressing political freedoms and muzzling activists. In May Hun Sen said he would try to stay in power for another decade.