Monitor Counts Irregulari​ties at Half of Last Month's Polling Stations- RED CARD for Lack of Impartiali​ty

25 June 2012
By Mu Sochua

Scoring Elections in Cambodia

Red card to the government of Cambodia for lack of electoral reforms.

Red card on the following points recommended as essential in the EU Election Observation Mission, Cambodia, 27 July 2008

http://www.eueomcambodia.org/English/Final_Report.html

• The government of Cambodia must take credible steps to ensure that the NEC operates as a fully independent institution at all levels in order to enhance its credibility and acceptance among the electorate. Members of the NEC should be approved by a consensus among all political parties represented in the National Assembly. In particular the NEC chairperson should be a person acceptable to all political parties represented in the National Assembly. A limitation of the term in office of the chairperson and members of the NEC should be considered;
• The Ministry of Interior should increase the ID card distribution rate and improve monitoring of the process. In cases where voters do not possess an ID card or other ID document the state authorities should find an alternative solution to enable voters to identify themselves on election-day. Regardless of the solution, records of voters using alternative identification should be kept as a safeguard and as information to support further improvement of the Cambodian electoral framework;
• A free media environment is absolutely essential to ensuring that Cambodia’s efforts to tackle corruption and protect fundamental human rights meet with success. The government must show its commitment towards this end by the establishment of an independent broadcasting regulatory authority, responsible for the distribution of licenses and frequencies to the broadcast media on an open and transparent basis.

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Monitor Counts Irregularities at Half of Last Month’s Polling Stations

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, 20 June 2012
Kong Sotharnarith, VOA Khmer | Phnom Penh

"The NEC must be improved if elections in the country are to be considered free and fair."

The Committee for Free and Fair Elections said Wednesday Cambodia needs to reform the National Election Committee ahead of parliamentary polls next July.

The independent monitoring organization counted 3,000 irregularities at 5,810 polling stations in last month’s local elections, it announced Wednesday.

 

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