Candlelight Party

Candlelight Party

គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន
Candlelight Party គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន
Leader	Thach Setha
Founder	Sam Rainsy
Founded	1995
Headquarters	Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Ideology	Liberalism
Political position	Centre
Regional affiliation	Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats; (until 2012)
International affiliation	Liberal International; (until 2012)
Slogan	Integrity, Truth, Justice
Website
	[1]
	Politics of Cambodia; Political parties; Elections;

Sam Rainsy campaign bus during the 2008 election

The Candlelight Party (Khmer: គណបក្សភ្លើងទៀន)^[1] is a liberal party in Cambodia. The party was a member of the Council of Asian Liberals and Democrats, Liberal International, and the Alliance of Democrats.

The party, founded in 1995 as the Khmer Nation Party and renamed the Sam Rainsy Party in 1998, constitutes the official opposition to the ruling Cambodian People's Party. Since the decline of the junior coalition partner, FUNCINPEC, in the 2008 National Assembly elections, the Candlelight Party is now considered the second largest party in Cambodia. It is the largest opposition party in Cambodia.

The party won 15 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly in the 1998 elections, 24 seats in the 2003 elections, and 26 seats in the 2008 elections with 21% of the vote. The SRP won two seats in the 2006 Senate elections.

In 2009, it formally allied with the Human Rights Party in the Democratic Movement of Change.

In 2008, party activist Tuot Saron was arrested on a charge of "being an accomplice to unlawful confinement".^[2] International human rights groups including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International described the charges as a politically motivated attempt to intimidate other SRP activists.^[2]^[3] Tuot Saron was released on 26 November 2010, following a Royal Pardon decree.^[4]

In the 2012 Cambodian Senate elections, the Sam Rainsy Party gained nine new seats in the Senate. Although it merged with the Human Rights Party to form the Cambodia National Rescue Party, it remains active due to still having seats in the Senate, with Kong Korm as its leader. It will fully integrate into the CNRP and officially disband in the next Senate elections.^[5]

Its motto is "Integrity, Truth, Justice".^[6]

Election results[]

General election[]

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Position	Government
Election	Leader	#	%	±	#	±	Position	Government
1998	Sam Rainsy	699,665	14.3	New	15 / 122	New	3rd	CPP–FUNCINPEC
2003		1,130,423	21.9	7.6	24 / 123	9	3rd	CPP–FUNCINPEC
2008		1,316,714	21.9		26 / 123	2	2nd	CPP–FUNCINPEC

Communal elections[]

Election	Leader	Votes			Communes		Councillors		Position
Election	Leader	#	%	±	#	±	#	±	Position
2002	Sam Rainsy	736,454	16.9	New	13 / 1,621	New	1,329 / 11,261	New	3rd
2007		1,303,906	25.2	8.3	28 / 1,621	15	2,660 / 11,353	1,331	2nd
2012		1,224,460	20.8	4.4	22 / 1,633	6	2,155 / 11,459	505	2nd

Senate elections[]

Election	Leader	Votes			Seats		Position	Outcome
Election	Leader	#	%	±	#	±	Position	Outcome
2006	Kong Korm	1,165	10.3	—	2 / 57	5	3rd	Minority
2012	Kong Korm	2,503	21.9	11.6	11 / 57	9	2nd	Minority

References[]

^ "Candlelight Party amends statue in Congress". Khmer Times. Retrieved 1 September 2018.
^ ^a ^b "Cambodia Prisoner of Conscience Tuot Saron". Amnesty International. September 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
^ "Cambodia: Opposition Officials Arrested to Sway Elections". Human Rights Watch. 23 March 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
^ "Tout Saron, SRP activist and Amnesty Int'l "Prisoner of Conscience", finally released from jail". Cambodian Today. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
^ "Changes at Human Rights Party". The Phnom Penh Post. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2014.
^ "Sam Rainsy Party".

External links[]

Sam Rainsy Party official site

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[1] "Candlelight Party amends statue in Congress". Khmer Times. Retrieved 1 September 2018.

[AI-2] "Cambodia Prisoner of Conscience Tuot Saron". Amnesty International. September 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2011.

[HRW-3] "Cambodia: Opposition Officials Arrested to Sway Elections". Human Rights Watch. 23 March 2008. Retrieved 26 December 2011.

[4] "Tout Saron, SRP activist and Amnesty Int'l "Prisoner of Conscience", finally released from jail". Cambodian Today. 15 December 2010. Retrieved 26 December 2011.

[5] "Changes at Human Rights Party". The Phnom Penh Post. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 10 August 2014.

[6] "Sam Rainsy Party".

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v t Political parties in Cambodia
National Assembly	Cambodian People's Party (125)
Senate	Cambodian People's Party (58) FUNCINPEC (2) Independents (2)
Not represented in Parliament	Beehive Social Democratic Party Cambodian Liberty Party Cambodian Youth Party Candlelight Party FUNCINPEC Grassroots Democratic Party Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party Khmer Anti-Poverty Party Khmer Democratic Party Khmer National United Party Khmer Power Party Khmer Republican Party Khmer Will Party League for Democracy Party Society of Justice Party United People of Cambodia Khmer National Solidarity Party
Defunct	Buddhist Liberal Democratic Party Cambodia National Rescue Party Cambodian National Sustaining Party Cambodian National Unity Party Communist Party of Kampuchea Community of Royalist People's Party Human Rights Party Khmer National Solidarity Party Khmer Neutral Party Khmer People's National Liberation Front Liberal Democratic Party Movement for the National Liberation of Kampuchea Norodom Ranariddh Party Party of Democratic Kampuchea Sangkum Jatiniyum Front Party Union of Cambodian Democrats
Historical	Democratic Party Khmer Renovation Liberal Party Pracheachon Republican Party Sangkum Social Republican Party
Portal:Politics List of political parties Politics of Cambodia