National Election Committee (NEC) spokesman Hang Puthea said Tuesday that he expects Japan to help fund the reformed body, adding that a Japanese election expert will arrive in Cambodia next month.
“I think that the Japanese will start to donate to the NEC from the voter registration period,” Mr. Puthea said, adding that he was not sure when that period would begin.
Commune elections are set for February 2017, and the next national election is scheduled for 2018.
Mr. Puthea said Japan’s ambassador to Cambodia promised that the election specialist would arrive next month. “We will discuss the time frame for the elections, and then the Japanese will see the period… their support [is needed],” he said.
Mr. Puthea also said that the new NEC, which was established earlier this month, was now meeting two to three times per week, but had not yet started the process to replace existing NEC Secretary-General Tep Nytha.
“The criteria and methodology to select the secretary-general has not yet been discussed,” he said.
