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（Cambodia Daily) – The Phnom Penh City Government said on Friday that only 10,000 protesters participated in the large -scale demonstrations held by the opposition party next week, and no demonstrators were allowed to leave the Liberty Park.
On Friday, the city government formally rejected the CNRP’s request for a three-day demonstration involving 20,000 to 50,000 people, and also denied permission for a 20,000-person march to the United Nations offices and several foreign embassies.
City hall spokesman Long Dimanche said Friday that the city government can only allow a maximum of 10,000 protesters, which is the capacity of Freedom Park, and if the CNRP protest exceeds that number, it will need special permission from the Ministry of the Interior.
“Phnom Penh City Hall has no right [give permission] “We will hold a rally of 20,000 to 50,000 people and organise a march of 20,000 people to the embassy, as requested by the CNRP,” Mr Dimanche said in a letter sent on Thursday.
“We are not allowing them to march to the embassy because we can imagine what will happen when 20,000 protesters take to the streets; it will affect traffic, public safety and could lead to violence,” Mr Dimanche said, adding that City Hall would forward the request to the Interior Ministry on Friday evening.
The reporter failed to contact officials in the Ministry of the Interior to comment, but the national police spokesman KIRTH CHANTHARITH said the number of protesters has not affected.
“For the police, the number of people is not important. If they hold a peaceful demonstration, there is no problem. The concern is if they do not comply with public order or the law… We will not count one, two, three, four, five. [protesters] Then they were not allowed to enter the Liberty Park, “Mr. Chantharith said.
He refused to comment if the demonstrators tried to pass through the Phnom Penh parade without permission, and the police would intervene, but said the police had to maintain the public order.
“If they violate the law, it is a big problem,” Mr. Chantharith said.
National Gendarmerie spokesman Kheng Tito said the police have not decided whether to set up roadblocks on the streets of Phnom Penh in order to deal with a three -day plan protest from Wednesday.
“If the situation requires, we will block some main roads. It won’t be worse than last time because we have learned our lesson,” he said, referring to the CNRP’s three-day protest at Freedom Park in mid-September that caused traffic chaos and left the city’s residents unhappy with the heavy-handed police response.
The CNRP said supporters will march to the United Nations office to submit a petition on Oct. 23, the first of three days of protests coinciding with the anniversary of the signing of the 1991 Paris Peace Accords. On Oct. 24 and 25, they also plan to march to the embassies of France, Japan, the United States, China, Indonesia, Britain and Australia.
Lord Ry, a member of the National Salvation Party, said that although the city hall rejected their plans, protests and parade will continue.
He said that the opposition expects at least 20,000 people to participate in the protests of Liberty Park, and at least 10,000 people will march on the street.
“We expect that there will be 10,000 parades to submit a petition [asking to implement] “We will abide by the Paris Peace Agreement and report to the embassy in Phnom Penh,” Mr. Ry said.
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