News

The National Election Committee (NEC) has decided to allow the Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (COMFREL) to continue auditing the 2020 voter list to help improve its quality and accuracy. The results of this process will be posted on December 31. ... ...

Cambodia’s upcoming general election on 29 July looks set to be its most controversial since its first national election in 1993. In late 2017, the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved and 118 of its senior members were banned from ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) was hailed by the government on Tuesday for saying that there would be 45,000 observers for the July 29 national elections. Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan said that the large number of registered election observers would dispel criticism and ...

Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen denied on Tuesday that 20 small and little-known political parties registered to compete in July 29 national elections were created by his ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) to provide an illusion of political opposition in the coming polls. ... ...

NGO Nicfec on Wednesday joined fellow election watchdog Comfrel in deciding not to register poll observers with the National Election Committee (NEC) for July’s national elections, citing a lack of volunteers resulting from, they say, fear of being accused of being part of a colour ...

After a ruling CPP official claimed that those who refuse to cast their ballot in the Kingdom’s upcoming elections “love dictatorship” and are “supporting rebel groups”, legal and election experts have said it is the individual right of citizens whether or not to vote. ... ...

A local election watchdog on Wednesday issued a statement denying that it intended to destroy the upcoming national election on July 29. In its statement on Wednesday, the Committee for Free and Fair Election in Cambodia responded to media reports that accused it of aiming ...

The upcoming national election on July 29 will take place as scheduled despite no officials from civil society being registered to monitor the process, a senior CPP official said yesterday. Sok Eysan, spokesman for the ruling CPP, said that the national election was approaching and ...

With the absence of independent election monitors like Comfrel and Nicfec, Sunday’s Senate elections will be monitored by a hodgepodge of associations, with some representing the pharmacy, travel and hospitality industries, and another run by Hun Many, son of Prime Minister Hun Sen. ... ...

The National Election Committee has released the official voter list for July’s general election, containing nearly 85 percent of eligible voters. The voter list contains 8,380,217 names out of 9,882,746 eligible voters, or 84.8 percent of those aged 18 and over. There will be 22,967 polling stations ...

The Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia has denied accusations that its election activities were connected to attempts to foment a popular uprising or “colour revolution”. ... ...

At least three local NGOs have been called for questioning by the Ministry of Economy and Finance’s Taxation Department to clarify their tax payments, amid an aggressive tax collection campaign that has recently gone after media outlets the Cambodia Daily, Voice of America and Radio ...

The Ministry of Interior has issued a warning to election watchdogs Comfrel and Nicfec, ordering them to halt their activities that allegedly violate their NGO obligation of neutrality. ... ...

Despite repeated vows by both of Cambodia’s major political parties to increase female representation, the number of female candidates elected in the Kingdom’s recently concluded commune elections actually decreased since they were last held in 2012. ...  ...

Twenty-four officials from the Interior Ministry’s fire department have been ordered to join the ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s local working groups operating in Battambang province. ...  ...

Election watchdog Comfrel criticised National Assembly President Heng Samrin for a lack of commitment to creating a quota for female parliamentarians in a report presented yesterday. ... ...

Just a quarter of Cambodian voters are fully satisfied with the government’s efforts to deliver on its promises thus far in the fifth mandate, though more than half rated themselves partly so, according to the results of a nationwide survey conducted by election watchdog Comfrel. ...

Election observers are urging the National Election Committee to move quickly on updates to the voter registry, as commune elections in 2017 approach. ... ...

NGOs on Saturday aired their concerns about the possibility of a high school dropout rate, particularly in rural areas. The organizations said that government policies, lack of school facilities and unfavorable school environments are all factors leading young people to drop out. ... ...

Approximately 3 million students in 12,000 state schools across the country are at risk of drop-out or under-performance as a result of inadequate basic infrastructure, according to research by a coalition of civil society groups.The warnings came following a forum convened in the capital on ...

Ry Sovanna is a Cambodian citizen, but in 2013 he was not able to exercise one of his most basic rights – voting. Mr. Sovanna was living in Thailand at the time, and there was no way for him to file his ballot in the ...

Civil society groups  campaigned Wednesday to seek support from three former Prime Ministers in order to limit terms for Premiership. ... Kol Panha, president of Committee for Free and Fair Election in Cambodia (Comfrel), told reporters that he met with Pen Sovann to ask him to ...

Civil society advocates – who last week called on parliament to consider amending the constitution to limit prime ministers to two terms in office – are now trying to enlist former premiers to back their proposal. The group, which includes well-known political analysts and representatives of ...

A ruling party lawmaker and parliamentary spokesman said yesterday that the National Assembly will consider invoking an internal rule that could force the opposition party to replace its elected lawmakers with lower-ranked candidates from within the party if their boycott continues beyond a deadline. Principle 83 ...