News

A coalition of watchdogs and other civil society groups yesterday announced their intention to form a “situation room” for the 2017 commune elections in order to monitor the voting process for irregularities. ...

A recent military show of force and a politically motivated road blockade may have had the effect of deterring eligible voters from registering, the Electoral Reform Alliance (ERA) has said. In a statement released on Tuesday evening, the ERA, a coalition of NGOs in Cambodia, urged ...

The three-month voter registration period opened on Thursday, with Prime Minister Hun Sen telling reporters after enrolling at his local commune office that he hopes the new voter registry will put an end to post-election protests. After the July 2013 national election, the CNRP refused to ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday threatened legal action against anyone who touted claims of irregularities in the voter lists during the 2013 election, telling reporters yesterday that if this year’s round of voter registration finishes and the final tally of voters compiled is similar to ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Monday appealed to Cambodia’s 9.6 million eligible voters to register to cast their ballots when enrollment opens next month, as the opposition CNRP expressed concerns that a million migrant workers could be disenfranchised. ...

The National Election Committee and election monitoring groups have been discussing regulations including permission for the taking of photographs and videos at polling stations ahead of local elections scheduled for June 2017 and a general election slated for 2018. ...

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.   ...

A group of election-monitoring NGOs have expressed alarm at what they say are inexplicable delays in starting to rebuild the national voter list, with concerns that the National Election Committee (NEC) may be leaving things too late for the 2017 commune elections. ...

The National Election Committee (NEC) yesterday appointed Tep Nytha to another term as secretary general, in a selection process that civil society and opposition party members have criticized as fraudulent and closed from public scrutiny. ...

The European Union pledged €10 million in preparation of the upcoming 2017 and 2018 elections yesterday, which the National Election Committee (NEC) hopes to add to in a new budget they will be submitting to the government, according to NEC officials. ...

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. ...

Turning his back on a public promise, opposition leader Sam Rainsy canceled his scheduled return to Cambodia on Monday night and said he would instead return “in the next few days,” refusing to guarantee that his time abroad would not stretch into weeks or months. ...

Despite a massive 300 percent increase in its budget next year to prepare for looming elections, the National Election Committee (NEC) says it has barely half the money it needs to do its job and is looking for overseas aid for resources to help. ...

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 ...

The seven opposition CNRP lawmakers charged last year with “leading an insurrection” could be arrested and imprisoned in the same way that opposition Senator Hong Sok Hour was arrested and imprisoned over the weekend, Justice Ministry spokesman Chin Malin said Tuesday. ...

An election watchdog group is calling for a complaint investigation mechanism to efficiently collect and study allegations of voter fraud and disenfranchisement. ...

Following a month in which Prime Minister Hun Sen publicly sang the praises of opposition leader Sam Rainsy only weeks after threatening to unleash the military on Mr. Rainsy’s deputy, Kem Sokha, the opposition party was back on the road this week promoting an image ...

Hang Puthea, executive director of the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections, was selected Tuesday as the “neutral” candidate for the National Election Committee (NEC) following Licadho president Pung Chhiv Kek’s announcement that she would not accept her nomination. ...

One of the country’s foremost election rights advocates wrote to the Constitutional Council on Tuesday requesting that it annul two articles in the proposed new national election law that he says violate constitutional rights to participate in election campaigns. ...

Prime Minister Hun Sen on Tuesday chided a group of NGOs who boycotted a seminar on a pair of proposed election laws, saying the groups suffered from “main character syndrome.” ...

The opposition hailed the rewriting of Cambodia’s election laws a success on Monday, with the completion of the bills coming eight months after it ended its parliamentary boycott for pledges of a comprehensive overhaul of the National Election Committee (NEC). ...

Dozens of NGOs are planning to boycott a workshop Monday to discuss the new election law, saying that the CPP and CNRP have not given them enough time to review the draft and that they do not want to give the event a veneer of ...

The revised national election law—expected to come before parliament this month—includes a provision that allows National Assembly seats to be taken away from any political party that attempts to boycott parliament following an election, according to a draft of the law made public Thursday. ...