Pro-government media reports have claimed that more than 6,000 opposition leaders and members have defected to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party within the last six months due to “weakness” in leadership.
Between January and June 2023, government mouthpiece Fresh News reported 6,473 defections from opposition parties in dozens of separate news items, according to a sampling of the reports.
Although some reports included videos of opposition leaders and activists proclaiming their allegiance to the ruling party, others were vague and provided no evidence of the supposed defectors’ positions.
Some stories appeared to conflate new supporters with defections: For example, a recent story claimed that 45 Candlelight Party and Cambodia National Rescue Party “activists” joined the CPP in one day, but it was not clear if they were voters as opposed to party organizers or elected officials.
Other stories say that former Cambodia National Rescue Party activists had defected. But the CNRP was dissolved in 2017, making the supposed defectors’ actual party affiliations unclear.
Independent news reports do show, however, that defections have swept the ranks of elected officials, including not only senior former CNRP or Candlelight officials but also several who have faced jail, such as Sun Thun, a former CNRP provincial council member in Kampong Thom and Kung Raiya, a former member of Candlelight Party central committee who had been jailed twice.
In a recent VOA report, Candlelight Party spokesman Kimsour Phirith estimated 10-15% of Candlelight’s senior leadership had defected.
Notable defectors include former CNRP youth leader Yim Sinorn, who organized labor protests in South Korea among Cambodian migrant workers, and opposition lawyer Ket Khy, a deputy head of the Candlelight working group in Kampong Speu.
Leaders and activists from other parties, such as the Grassroots Democratic Party, have also defected to the ruling party, such as Yang Saing Koma, Sam Inn, Leok Sothea and Sem Hak and Khmer Win Party leader Suong Sophorn, plus some other activists from the League for Democracy Party, Cambodian Indigenous People’s Democracy Party and Cambodia Nation Love Party.
Fresh News claimed that defectors have said they were tricked into believing opposition leaders’ incitement tactics. Some defectors have provided similar narratives in interviews with independent media, saying they lost faith in opposition leaders or were incited to foment revolutions.
The defections come amid months of ongoing arrests and intimidation against opposition members, including the sentencing of Kem Sokha to 27 years of house arrest in February, the disqualification of the Candlelight Party from participating in the election, and numerous reported assaults.
Reported Defections to the CPP
| Date | Reported Number of Defectors | Former Party |
|---|---|---|
| 30/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 30/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 30/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 29/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 29/06/2023 | 3 | Candlelight Party |
| 29/06/2023 | 613 | Candlelight Party |
| 29/06/2023 | 131 | Funcinpec |
| 29/06/2023 | 132 | Khmer National United Party |
| 29/06/2023 | 99 | Grassroots Democracy Party |
| 29/06/2023 | 91 | Unnamed Parties |
| 29/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 28/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 27/06/2023 | 2 | Candlelight Party |
| 27/06/2023 | 3 | Candlelight Party |
| 26/06/2023 | 20 | Cambodian Youth Party |
| 26/06/2023 | 194 | Funcinpec |
| 26/06/2023 | 986 | Candlelight Party |
| 26/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 25/06/2023 | 145 | Candlelight Party / Unnamed Parties |
| 25/06/2023 | 48 | Candlelight Party / Unnamed Parties |
| 25/06/2023 | 174 | Candlelight Party |
| 22/06/2023 | 2 | Candlelight Party |
| 22/06/2023 | 6 | Candlelight Party |
| 22/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 21/06/2023 | 71 | Candlelight Party |
| 21/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 21/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 21/06/2023 | 45 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 21/06/2023 | 7 | Candlelight Party |
| 21/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 19/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party (including mass trial defendant Long Phary) |
| 18/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 17/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 16/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 16/06/2023 | 72 | Candlelight Party |
| 16/06/2023 | 97 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 16/06/2023 | 49 | Cambodia Nation Love Party |
| 16/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 14/06/2023 | 360 | Candlelight Party |
| 13/06/2023 | 1 | Funcinpec |
| 13/06/2023 | 700 | Candlelight Party |
| 13/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 13/06/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party (including Phnom Penh working group head Sar Longdeth) |
| 13/06/2023 | 15 | Candlelight Party |
| 11/06/2023 | 9 | Cambodia National Rescue Party / Candlelight Party |
| 11/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party (including mass trial defendant Tum Bunthorn) |
| 10/06/2023 | 47 | Candlelight Party |
| 07/06/2023 | 381 | Candlelight Party |
| 07/06/2023 | 146 | Funcinpec |
| 07/06/2023 | 200 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 07/06/2023 | 7 | Unnamed Parties |
| 07/06/2023 | 31 | Cambodia National Rescue Party / Candlelight Party |
| 06/06/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 04/06/2023 | 32 | Candlelight Party |
| 01/06/2023 | 3 | Cambodia National Rescue Party / Candlelight Party |
| 30/05/2023 | 51 | Cambodia National Rescue Party / Candlelight Party |
| 30/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 29/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 29/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 29/05/2023 | 30 | Candlelight Party |
| 28/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 28/05/2023 | 138 | Candlelight Party |
| 28/05/2023 | 95 | Unnamed Parties |
| 27/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 26/05/2023 | 15 | Candlelight Party |
| 26/05/2023 | 2 | League for Democracy Party |
| 26/05/2023 | 2 | Cambodia Indigenous People’s Democracy Party |
| 26/05/2023 | 32 | Candlelight Party |
| 25/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 22/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 22/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 21/05/2023 | 120 | Cambodia National Rescue Party / Candlelight Party |
| 21/05/2023 | 20 | Candlelight Party |
| 20/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 20/05/2023 | 149 | Candlelight Party |
| 20/05/2023 | 1 | Political Analyst |
| 19/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party (including lawyer Ket Khy) |
| 19/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 18/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 13/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 13/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 13/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 13/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 11/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 11/05/2023 | 2 | Candlelight Party |
| 10/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 10/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party (including Kong Mas, previously arrested for incitement) |
| 08/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 08/05/2023 | 4 | Candlelight Party |
| 08/05/2023 | 2 | Candlelight Party (including Ratanakiri party official Thoeun Bunthorn, who was arrested for plotting) |
| 08/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 05/05/2023 | 2 | Candlelight Party (including Pey Pey Ly, prominent youth CNRP activist) |
| 01/05/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 30/04/2023 | 1 | Khmer Win Party (including party president Suong Sophorn) |
| 26/04/2023 | 2 | Candlelight Party |
| 25/04/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 21/04/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party (including Yim Sinorn, former party activist) |
| 02/04/2023 | 1 | Grassroots Democracy Party (including Sam Inn, former party vice president) |
| 02/04/2023 | 1 | Grassroots Democracy Party (including Sem Hak, former party secretary-general) |
| 27/03/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 09/03/2023 | 16 | Cambodia National Rescue Party |
| 16/02/2023 | 36 | Candlelight Party |
| 09/02/2023 | 1 | Candlelight Party |
| 09/02/2023 | 41 | Candlelight Party |
| 04/02/2023 | 55 | Candlelight Party |
| 27/01/2023 | 4 | Candlelight Party |
| 22/01/2023 | 675 | Candlelight Party |
| 21/01/2023 | 9 | Candlelight Party |
| 23/04/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party (including Hun Kosal, party activist) |
| 03/05/2023 | 1 | Cambodia National Rescue Party (including Ear Channa, party activist) |