Phnom Penh: The National Election Committee (NEC) has declared the 5th Senate Election of 2024, held on February 25, to be conducted smoothly and in a free and fair manner. This announcement came from Prach Chan, the Chairman of the NEC, during a meeting with stakeholders to discuss the general situation of the election at the NEC headquarters.

Chan reported that an impressive turnout was observed, with 11,730 of the 11,747 eligible voters, accounting for 99.8 percent, casting their votes across 33 polling stations in eight regional constituencies across Cambodia. The election, characterized by its non-universal suffrage, was closely monitored by 228 political party observers, 760 local observers from 18 associations and NGOs, 30 foreign observers, and 306 journalists, including 25 international journalists from 14 media organizations.

“The preliminary results are expected to be announced on February 29, with the official results anticipated between March 4 to 6, 2024,” Prach Chan highlighted. Early indications suggest that the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) has secured a landslide victory.

The election saw competition for 58 of the 62 Senate seats, with the CPP, the Khmer Will Party, the FUNCINPEC Party, and the National Power Party vying for positions. The remaining four seats are to be allocated by appointment, with two appointed by the King and the other two by the National Assembly.

This latest election follows the 4th Senate Election in 2018, in which the CPP won all 58 contested seats. The Senate, established on March 25, 1999, initially had 61 senators, with appointments rather than elections filling the seats. At its inception, 33 senators were from the CPP, 21 from the FUNCINPEC Party, and seven from the Sam Rainsy Party.

^{PHOTO: AKP}