Cambodia's Constitutional Council has ruled in line with the National Election Committee and dismissed a suite of complaints brought by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which alleged more than 2,000 names on the new voter list belonged to Vietnamese nationals and were thus illegal.

After a nine-day probe, the council on Thursday decided to retain the list, which contained 2,054 names submitted within 78 complaints filed by the opposition, said council spokesman Uth Chhorn.

Chhorn said the body had dispatched experts to verify the names were registered legally with identity cards. “When we inspected, we concluded that the NEC has acted properly based on the conditions,” Chhorn said.

Chhorn said the decision was final and no avenues of appeal existed via the body, though added that the opposition could file complaints to other relevant institutions, such as the Interior Ministry or local authorities.

CNRP official Meng Sopheary yesterday expressed disappointment with the decision and said the party was considering asking the Interior Ministry to further investigate whether the alleged illegal voters had obtained documents correctly.

“It is an injustice that foreigners, illegally holding a Khmer identity card, are permitted to vote,” she said.

The NEC last month ruled to retain 2,441 names disputed by the CNRP. Yesterday, Hang Puthea confirmed the list was finalised and could be checked by the public online.