Cambodia’s National Election Committee (NEC) announced Tuesday that the ongoing campaigns for the May 26 elections of city and provincial councillor positions were proceeding orderly and without irregularities.
The elections are mostly a formality as, according to Cambodian election law, the 4,114 seats for city, provincial, and district councilors in 25 cities and provinces are not chosen by the public, but by the 11,572 commune councilors — all but one of which belong to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) .
Commune councillors are directly elected by the public, but in late 2017 the government banned the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (Party). The CPP divided the CNRP-held 45 percent of parliament seatsamong smaller opposition parties, while it took over the CRNP’s 489 commune chief positions by law or by defections.
