DHAKA: Tens of thousands of Cambodian opposition supporters, backed by striking garment-factory workers, rallied on Sunday to demand long-serving prime minister Hun Sen step down and call an election.

The garment workers have in recent days joined the opposition protests to press their demand that the government raise the minimum wage to US$160 a month from US$95, as recommended on December 24.

‘Hun Sen and his illegal government can hear us, they can`t ignore us, the people show their will for change,’ Sam Rainsy, leader of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, told the rally in a Phnom Penh park, reports The Straits Times.

‘We demand that Hun Sen to steps down and a new election,’ Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister, told the crowd, some of whom have been camping out in the park since December 15.

BDST: 1708 HRS, DEC 29, 2013
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor