Polls are closed in Cambodia, following general elections widely predicted to extend Prime Minister Hun Sen’s 23-year hold on power.  While there were few reports of election day violence, opposition groups claim that thousands of their supporters were prevented from voting when their names were removed from voting lists.  Rory Byrne reports for VOA from Phnom Penh.

Cambodian election worker holds a ballot paper for counting at a polling station in Spean Touch school, northwest of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, 27 Jul 2008

CPP officials say they expect to add eight seats to their current 73 in the 121 member parliament, allowing them for the first time to rule without the support of smaller parties.

The main opposition Sam Rainsy Party says it has done better than expected in rural areas without increasing its vote in the cities.

The other eight opposition parties are thought to have faired poorly.

Speaking to reporters, opposition leader Sam Rainsy said that thousands of his supporters, mostly in Phnom Penh, had been unable to vote because their names had been removed from voter lists.

"The CPP has manipulated voter lists in order to disenfranchise non-CPP supporters," said Sam Rainsy. "In the next few days we are organizing a big demonstration - hundreds of thousands of people - whose names have been deleted, will join the demonstration to ask for their names to be put back in the voter lists."

International election monitors said it is too early to evaluate the extent of possible electoral abuses.  They say they are gathering data from observer teams and will be making full statements in a few days.

But anecdotal evidence from polling stations in and around Phnom Penh would suggest that many voters were unable to cast their ballots.  Pol Saman voted early in Phnom Penh:

"I saw a lot of people, more than a hundred at my station, who said: ‘Where is my name, you know, because I registered?’  And then you know: [they said] ‘Please help me.’ And then someone said: ‘You have to go somewhere, to your district’ - a waste of your time. ‘I do not want to go’ - many people were shouting like that.  And then many people, many many people, they got so upset.  And then some people said - ‘I do not vote, I give up," said Pol Saman.

The government strongly denies that it engaged in any electoral abuses. Ke Bun Khieng is the Campaign Deputy Director for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party:

Khieng says the election ran very smoothly, and voting was free and orderly and that everything was equal between the Cambodian People’s Party and the opposition parties.

The government credits its expected strong showing with a buoyant economy and infrastructural improvements.

The CPP is also thought to have benefited from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s handling of a tense border dispute with Thailand, which has raised fears of another war here.  

Cambodian’s famed Preah Vihear temple is seen on the Cambodia-Thai border in Cambodia, Preah Vihear…

Cambodian’s famed Preah Vihear temple is seen on the Cambodia-Thai border in Cambodia, Preah Vihear province, about 245 kilometers (152 miles) north of Phnom Penh, on June 21, 2008. Cambodia’s retired king has taken a nationalistic swipe at Thailand in the controversy over a recent world heritage tag for an 11th century temple, which has sparked political tensions in the neighboring country and celebrations at home. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

(AP)

Cambodia’s former king dismissed any Thai claim to an 11th century temple on the border as baseless, weighing in on a dispute that has soured relations between the neighbors and fueled anti-government protests in Thailand.

Preah Vihear temple was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site this week, reopening a long-standing disagreement between Phnom Penh and Bangkok over which country owns the land that surrounds it.

Former King Norodom Sihanouk said in a handwritten note posted on his Web site Friday that any Thai claims to the temple were "absolutely false."

He accused the Thais of causing "unmerited and anachronistic problems" for Cambodia "rather than concentrating on developing harmonious, friendly and fruitful relations" between the two countries.

Sihanouk said that some Thais are ignoring historic facts that prove that the "mountain and the temple of Preah Vihear are 100 percent Cambodia and belong to Cambodia 100 percent."

In 1962, the International Court of Justice awarded the temple and the land it occupies to Cambodia, a decision that still rankles Thais even though the temple is culturally Cambodian, sharing the Hindu-influenced style of the more famous Angkor Wat in northwestern Cambodia.

"Thanks to Khmer kings and the Khmer Empire — the Angkorian Empire in particular — Thailand is actually very rich in temples and other Khmer monuments in the style of Angkor," the former king said.

Thailand’s Foreign Minister Noppadon Pattama resigned Thursday after the Constitutional Court ruled that he had overstepped his authority in supporting Cambodia’s application to have the temple classified as a World Heritage Site. UNESCO added the temple to its list of landmarks on Monday.

Some political opponents have charged that the government of Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej deliberately bypassed Parliament and backed the bid in exchange for business concessions from Cambodia for toppled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and other Samak cronies.