France, the United Kingdom and Australia criticized Cambodia’s one-sided parliamentary election, while China’s Foreign Ministry spokeswoman congratulated Cambodia for the “smoothly held” vote. The U.S. said Cambodia’s general elections were “neither free nor fair” and decided to respond to it by implementing “a pause of certain foreign assistance programs” and by taking steps to “impose visa restrictions on individuals who undermined democracy.”
Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and General Secretary of the Communist Party of Việt Nam (CPV) Nguyễn Phú Trọng sent a letter of congratulations to President of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) and Prime Minister of Cambodia Samdech Techo Hun Sen on the successful 7th National Assembly (NA) election held on July 23.
International observers who attended the 7th general election, including those from China and Russia, lauded the peaceful and transparent nature of the poll.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk stated that the polls took place in a restrictive environment.
