Election Committee Allows 11 Parties Total

By Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
22 May 2008

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The National Election Committee has officially declared 11 political parties eligible for July’s polls.

Twelve parties had applied, but the Khmer United People’s Party was rejected, the national election body said in a statement.

Eligible parties will include the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, coalition partner Funcinpec, opposition Sarm Rainsy Party, as well as the Norodom Ranariddh and Human Rights parties.

The official list of parties comes amid complaints by most of them that national TVK is broadcasting programming heavily favoring the CPP, a claim the station denies.

As the campaign period begins, all competing parties will be required equal air time to present their platforms to voters, but rights groups and election monitors say this is nothing compared to the favorable coverage the ruling party and Prime Minister Hun Sen are given.

Ten parties approved to join parliamentary election of Cambodia

May 20, 2008
Xinhua

Ten out of the 12 political parties applying to join the parliamentary election of Cambodia on July 27 have won approval from the National Election Committee (NEC), English-Khmer language newspaper the Mekong Times said Tuesday.

The approved ones included the major ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the co-ruling Funcinpec Party, the royalist Norodom Ranariddh Party, as well as the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and Human Rights Party, NEC was quoted as saying.

Out of the two disapproved parties, one was asked to submit more documents and the other one was denied, it added.

The approved number is a 50 percent strong decrease over the previous general election in 2003, when 23 political parties vied with each other for the 123 seats in the Cambodian National Assembly.

In that year, CPP led by Prime Minister Hun Sen won 73 seats, Funcinpec 26 seats, and SRP 24 seats.

Name of the 10 parties accepted by the NEC as of 19 May 2008

Click on the Khmer list above to zoom in

1. CPP
2. Norodom Ranariddh Party
3. Hang Dara Democratic Movement
4. Human Rights Party
5. Justice Society
6. Alliance for Democracy
7. Sam Rainsy Party
8. Anti-Poverty Party
9. Funcinpec
10. Khmer Republic

Ten parties already authorized to participate in the election

19 May 2008
By Leang Delux
Cambodge Soir Hebdo
Translated from French by Luc Sâr

Tep Nitha, NEC secretary general, announced on Monday morning that ten out of the 12 political parties registered, will be running in the upcoming election.

Ouk Phourik’s Khmer Democracy Party must review its candidate list, several of them did not register beforehand on the voting list. According to Tep Nitha, “The Khmer Democracy Party shouldn’t have too much problem to validate its candidate list.”

On the other hand, the NEC refused to validate the Sangkum Khmer Niyum Party which sent a complaint to the Constitutional Council. “It has 10 days to get the approval,” Tep Nitha said.

Between 10 to 12 parties will participate in the 4th mandate election, whereas there were 20 parties in the past election. According to Tep Nitha also, this lower number of political parties is due to the fact that they lack personnel to prepare the candidate files.

Parties Fault NEC for Hard Registration

By Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
19 May 2008

At least four political parties are unhappy with the National Election Committee, saying the government body had made registration for the upcoming election difficult and that commune councils have been ineffective.

The Norodom Ranariddh Party says it will file a complaint against the NEC for the deletion of an official’s name from an election list, and the opposition Sam Rainsy Party has complained of intimidation of one of its candidate.

The SRP candidate, who was serving as a teacher, was threatened he should change his place of work if he wished to stand for election, the Sam Rainsy Party said.

And officials of the Sangkum Khmer Niyum have filed a complaint to the Constitutional Council for its rejecting from the process.

NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha said some commune councils had been inactive implementing their jobs. Of the 12 parties who have registered, the NEC has officially verified six parties, declined one and is reviewing four.

12 Political Parties Have Registered To Participate In The Election

May 16, 2008
Koh Santepheap Daily
Reported in English by Khmerization
Read full article in Khmer click here

Sources from the National Election Committee (NEC) said that, at the end of the dateline on the 12th of May, 12 political parties have lodged their applications to participate in the upcoming election to be held on the 27th of July.

Mr Mao Sophearith, member of the NEC, said in press conference that 12 parties have their applications either being processed or have been officially registered.

The 12 parties are:

1. The Cambodian People’s Party
2. Khmer Popular Society Party
3. Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party
4. Norodom Ranariddh Party
5. Funcinpec Party
6. Human Right Party
7. Just Society Party
8. League of Democracy Party
9. Sam Rainsy Party
10. Anti-Poverty Party
11. Khmer Democratic Party, and
12. Khmer Republican Party.

Among the 12 parties that have lodged their applications, only 3 parties have their applications officially approved, ie. The Cambodian People’s Party, the Norodom Ranariddh Party and the Hang Dara Democratic Movement Party. The Khmer Popular Society Party’s registration application has been rejected due to non-compliance with the NEC rules. And the applications of 8 other parties are still under considerations.

It must be noted that the number of political parties registered to participate in the election has dwindled since the first general election in 1993 when many political parties have participated in the election. In 1998, there were 39 political parties that have registered to participate in the election. In 2003, the numbers have dropped to 23 parties, and in the upcoming election to be held on 27th July 2008, only 12 parties have lodged applications to participate.

NEC Considers Two Extra Parties

By Mean Veasna, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
16 May 2008

The National Election Committee will consider two more political parties to contest the July election, officials said Thursday.

The Just Society and League for Democracy parties have yet to be reviewed, said NEC Secretary-General Tep Nitha.

The NEC has denied the application of the Khmer United People Party, which has forwarded an appeal to the Constitutional Council.

So far 12 parties have submitted applications to the NEC, of an estimated 57 registered with the Ministry of Interior. That’s 11 fewer parties than in the 2003 general election.

The Cambodian People’s, Norodom Ranariddh and Human Rights parties have all been officially approved, with the opposition Sam Rainsy Party still under review.

The Khmer Republican Party, a throwback to the former prime minister, Lon Nol, is also under review.

The Committee for Free and Fair Elections said Thursday it had closely reviewed the registration step of the election process and found no serious irregularities.

Large number of parties not registering for the election

Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

One week after the start of party registration for the election, a larger number of parties still did not bother to register with the NEC yet. Tep Nytha, NEC secretary-general, told the Kampuchea Thmei newspaper in the afternoon of Monday 05 May that, up until now, only 3 parties have registered on the NEC list. Tep Nytha did not elaborate as to why these parties are delaying their registration with the NEC. He claimed that he did not know because these parties did not make any announcement. Chuon Narong, Khmer Republican Party spokesman, indicated that his party delayed the registration because the party is still preparing the candidate list in each province. Muth Chantha, NRP spokesman, could not be reached over the phone, and Eng Chhay Eang of the SRP could not be reached yet either. However, Chiv Katta, a member of SRP steering committee, said that his party delayed its registration because it is still reviewing its candidates in each province.

Party Registration Begins; Few Takers So Far

By Seng Ratana, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
28 April 2008

The National Election Committee opened the registration process for political parties Monday, but only the ruling Cambodian People’s Party has so far signed up.

The 15-day registration period should see each party register its candidates for parliament, said NEC Secretary-General Tep Nytha.

Only political parties that have been recognized by the Ministry of Interior can register, he said, and registration will require the filing of internal party rules and a deposit of 15 million riel in the national bank.

The Ministry of Interior has said 45 political parties have been approved so far, up from 23 parties in the 2003 election.

The NEC estimates that only 20 parties will actually participate in this year’s election.

While the CPP has already sent its documents to the NEC, officials from the three other leading parties, Sam Rainsy, Human Rights, and Funcinpec, said they still had some documentation to complete.