EARLY RESULTS: Hun Sen's party wins majority of seats in Senate election

(Kyodo) _ (EDS: RECASTING WITH EARLY RESULTS)

Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won a majority of seats in Sunday's Senate election, according to unofficial early results.

According to the early results released by the National Election Committee, the CPP captured 45 of the 57 seats up for grabs, 12 more than it has now.

The FUNCINPEC party led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh got 10 and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party two. The little-known Khmer Democratic Party also participated but got none.

Official results are expected next Saturday if no complaints are filed, and on Feb. 26 otherwise.

It was Cambodia's first upper house election since the 61-seat Senate's formation in 1999. Four of its seats are not decided by election, with two senators appointed by King Norodom Sihamoni and two seats filled by National Assembly representatives.

The Coalition of Civil Society Organizations, a local political watchdog, had prior to the start of voting criticized the method of electing Senate members as "meaningless and nontransparent."

"The election results can be accurately calculated, predicted and known, and only the three main political parties will receive votes in such an election as electors are members of these political parties," the coalition of 14 local nongovernmental organizations said in a statement.

"This means that even though other political parties participate in the election, they will not receive votes because the electors who are members of the National Assembly and the commune councils will not vote for other parties," it said.

Under the Senate election law, only members of the 123-seat National Assembly and of the country's 1,621 commune councils can elect senators. A total of 11,382 voters from those institutions registered to participate, according to the National Election Committee.

Most of the country's 11,261 commune councilors elected in 2002 are from the CPP, followed by FUNCINPEC and the SRP, while Khmer Democratic Party has only one councilor.

In the National Assembly, the CPP has 73 seats, FUNCINPEC 26 and the SRP 24.

The Senate has the power to amend or veto any law approved by the National Assembly. Its new members are elected to six-year terms.

In the current 61-seat body, the CPP has 31 seats, FUNCINPEC 21 and the SRP seven, with two seats king-appointed.

The SRP is led by Sam Rainsy, who is self-exile in France after being stripped of parliamentary immunity, convicted in absentia on defamation charges and sentenced to 18 months in jail for criticizing Prince Ranariddh and Hun Sen.