The Phnom Penh Chamber of Commerce will take a second stab at electing a new president and board of directors Saturday, five weeks after the first vote ended in shambles.
This time, the Chamber—with assistance from the Ministry of Commerce—plans to keep a tight rein on the polling. It will only allow members to vote twice. During the Jan 22 polling, heated controversy broke out when some candidates turned in stacks of absentee ballots from other Chamber members.
Several candidates were accused of stuffing ballot boxes. In the second election, anyone who votes can only turn in one absentee ballot in addition to his or her own vote, said Keak Ravy, president of the election committee. The election will be observed by 24 independent people picked from the community, according to Koh Yean, vice president for domestic trade.
The voting is to be held in five different rooms at Chaktomuk High School instead of at Chamber headquarters to reduce confusion and make the polling and counting easier to observe, Keak Ravy said.
A new president and board of directors are to be announced at 3 pm Sunday at the Ministry of Commerce. Among those running for president will be the Chamber’s current chief, controversial tycoon Teng Bunma, who joined in protesting procedure for the last elections. The ballots were never counted.
After the new leadership is announced, the Chamber hopes to turn its attention to lobbying for business concerns and investment, said Keak Ravy, who admitted the organization was not very effective in its first five-year term.
“Everything is still very young,” he said. “The legal system, the government, the business people, they still are inexperienced.”
