Nearly 25,000 government officials were expected to have submitted their asset declarations by midnight last night as part of an ongoing effort to tackle graft in the Kingdom, officials from the Anticorruption Unit said yesterday.

Om Yentieng, head of the ACU, said yesterday that the asset declaration process was almost complete.

“We have a few hours approaching to the deadline and we have got almost 100 percent,” said Om Yentieng.

Sar Sambath, permanent member of the ACU, said that he hoped officials would not fail to declare their assets.

“We are closing on our  midnight  deadline and we have approached the estimate that we announced last week [of] 24,854 government officials,” said Sar Sambath.

“We are working to finalise the statistics and we hope that all officials fulfil their obligation and comply with the Anticorruption Law.”

Om Yentieng issued a statement on March 24 warning that government officials who failed to comply with the Anticorruption law could face jail terms between one month and a year and fines of up to 2 million riel (about US$500).

Opposition Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Mu Sochua said that the ACU should take legal action against officials from the ruling Cambodian People’s Party who fail to declare their assets.

“I submitted my asset declaration confidentially to comply with the law,” said Mu Sochua said yesterday.

“[The SRP] has for a long time encouraged a public declaration of assets as it is in the interest of the Cambodian people.”

Prime Minister Hun Sen declared his assets confidentially on Sunday, but announced publicly that he earned a personal salary of 4,600,000 riel (US$1,450) per month and would declare his assets again by 2013.

Opposition party members and local rights groups have voiced concerns over the lack of  public disclosure of assets.