The National Election Committee (NEC) will host a prayer ceremony at its new head office building this afternoon, though the organisation won’t move in until after the building’s completion in September this year.

The NEC announced on Wednesday that the ceremony is scheduled to take place at the new head office in Chamkarmon district’s Tonle Bassac commune, near the National Assembly.

Khorn Keo Mono, director of the NEC’s Communications Department, said that the date of the ceremony was selected for its auspiciousness according to Buddhist beliefs.

Following the move-in, the NEC’s current office in the Ministry of Interior will be returned to the ministry, he said.

Keo Mono added that the cost of the new building, which boasts 15 floors and “rooms bigger than the previous ones”, was paid by the state, but he was unaware of the figure.

Sam Kuntheamy, director of election monitor Nicfec, supported the NEC’s relocation to its own building, which he said was fitting for its status as an independent institution.

According to Keo Mono, the NEC has around 300 official staff, excluding contract employees.