Defections

More than 200 members of the opposition Sam Rainsy Party, Human Rights Party and Nationalist Party defected to the Cambodian People’s Party in Kratie province over the weekend, Kratie town Governor Che Samat said Monday. He said 227 SRP members and 17 others from the HRP and Nationalist Party – formerly the Norodom Ranariddh Party – voluntarily joined the CPP. “We did not force them or threaten them or give them money in order to make them join with us,” he said. Long Ry, an SRP lawmaker for Kratie province, said, however, that the officials were expelled for misconduct during last year’s provincial council elections. “We found that they received bribes and did not vote for the SRP, so we kicked them out,” he said.