The ruling party filed 15 complaints to commune election committees against the opposition for minor campaign infractions, compared to five from the CNRP, during the first four days of the election campaign, the National Election Committee (NEC) said on Wednesday, with half already settled through compromise.
The complaints, filed ahead of the June 4 commune elections, were registered across eight provinces, the NEC said in a statement on Tuesday.
NEC spokesman Hang Puthea said on Wednesday that the alleged infractions included road blockages, marching outside scheduled routes, insults and the tearing down of stickers.
“We settled ten of the 20 complaints through compromise, because they both violated each other,” Mr. Puthea said.
If parties fail to resolve minor infractions through negotiations hosted by commune election committees, the Election Law says that disputants can escalate the case to provincial committees.
Mr. Puthea said two cases had been bumped to the provincial level in Takeo and Pailin.
In Takeo province, the CPP filed a complaint alleging that a group of CNRP supporters obstructed a ruling party parade of about 400 supporters on Saturday, while on the same day in Pailin, the ruling party alleged that the opposition used loudspeakers during a midday rest period.
CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said Wednesday that the reasons for the complaints were straightforward: The opposition party had violated NEC rules.
But CNRP spokesman Yim Sovann said the opposition was unconcerned by the complaints.
“The other party has done a lot of these things,” he said. “For us, we proceed to the election.”
(Additional reporting by Ben Paviour)
