Only Half of Voters Went to Polls: Monitors

Cambodian Buddhist monk, right, casts his ballot in local elections at Wat Than pagoda's polling station in Phnom Penh, Sunday, June 3, 2012. Photo: AP

Wednesday, 06 June 2012
Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer | Washington, DC

“The low turnout is very concerning.”

Only about half of eligible voters went to the polls on Sunday, election monitors say, thanks to a complicated electoral system, confused registries and irregularities at polling sites.

“It’s almost hard to recognize the result,” said Sam Kunteamy, a monitor for the Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections, who said about 51 percent of eligible voters cast ballots. “The low turnout is very concerning.”

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party swept the election, winning all but around 40 communes of the country’s 1,633.

Kong Ravine, a monitor for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said low turnout was due in part to migratory workers, who remained abroad. The groups 6,000 monitors found numerous irregularities and complexities at polling stations that hampered voting, she said.

Hanoi's marching order: Boost the one-sided trade to $2 billion

Vietnam, Cambodia talk trade cooperation

16/03/2009
VietNamNet/VNA

VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese Minister of Industry and Trade Vu Huy Hoang and Cambodian Minister of Trade Cham Prasidh held talks in Phnom Penh on March 16, agreeing to accelerate trade activities towards a target of 2 billion USD in turnover by 2010.

During the talks, the two ministers reviewed the implementation of trade cooperation agreements and discussed obstacles on the way to reach the targets.

The two sides agreed in principle to set up a coordination mechanism, probably a specialised board co-chaired by the two ministers, to deal with emerging issues in a timely manner.

They agreed that the two countries should meet to revise existing regulations on customs procedures for transit goods and border gate management in order to facilitate goods transport and travel along their shared border.

After the talks, the ministers signed minutes of their meeting, pledging to accelerate the implementation of trade agreements signed by the two countries’ Prime Ministers and the two ministries. They also plan to cooperate in personnel training hold more meetings between the two ministries to solve any rising problems, and promote border trade to boost sales of agricultural products and create more jobs for border inhabitants.

Earlier the same day, the two ministers co-chaired the opening ceremony of the second conference on Vietnam-Cambodia border trade cooperation.

During his stay in Cambodia from March 15-16, Minister Hoang was received by the Cambodian Prime Minister. He also had a working session with Vietnamese investors in Cambodia to learn of their projects and their difficulties in the process of implementation.