by Nguon Sovan, Mao Pengfei
KANDAL, Cambodia, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Cambodian voters said they wished for post-election continued peace and development as millions headed to polling stations to cast their ballots in the sixth general election on Sunday.
Standing patiently in a long queue at a polling station in southern Kandal province's Takhmao town, voters said continued peace and more development are their "most desirable things" and hoped all parties would respect the election results.
"I don't want to see any protests or conflicts after the election," Ngem Pheap told Xinhua after voting. "I hope that all political parties will accept the will of the people."
The 48-year-old mother of three children said she was a supporter of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, noting that the party has brought peace, political stability, and development to the country.
"As you see, we enjoy peace, and the CPP has developed countless achievements - bridges, roads, schools, hospitals and irrigation system - for the nation," she said. "It's my conviction that under the leadership of the CPP, the country will continue to enjoy peace and more development."
Another voter Sim Chanthan, 54, echoed Ngem Pheap's view, saying that peace is the prerequisite for development and believes that in the current situation, there is only the CPP that can continue to maintain the country's hard-earned peace.
"I come to vote because I want our country to see continued peace and more development in all fields," she told Xinhua.
"Previously, bridges and roads were poor, but now, wherever we go, bridges and roads are good," she said.
A market vendor, Pov Dy, 59, said the Sunday's vote was fair and free.
"I'm happy to vote because I can freely choose a leader I like, no one forces me to vote for this or that party," she said. "I like the CPP because Samdech (Hun Sen's honorific) leads the country well, bringing steady development to the nation, and people go everywhere without fears and concerns."
Suon Chiva, a supporter for the opposition League for Democracy Party, agreed that peace is the most important factor for the development.
A total of 20 political parties took part in the election. Among them are the CPP, the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, the League for Democracy Party of former opposition lawmaker Khem Veasna, the Grassroots Democracy Party of agronomist Yang Saing Koma, and the Khmer Will Party of former opposition member Kong Monika.
Hun Sen voted at a polling station in Kandal province, about 15 km south of capital Phnom Penh on Sunday.
He declined to answer questions from the press after voting, saying that any comments at the polling station on the voting day are against the National Election Committee (NEC)'s rule.
During an election campaign rally on Friday in Phnom Penh, the prime minister said the CPP is the only party that has enough capacity to govern Cambodia and to maintain peace and development.
Some 8.38 million eligible voters are expected to cast their ballots in the election, which is held to elect the members of parliament for the 125-seat parliament.
The Southeast Asian country holds a general election once every five years. The Sunday's election was the sixth of its kind since 1993.
