The National Election Committee (NEC) announced that as of March 30, all but 30 of Cambodia’s 1,652 communes had finished drawing lots to determine the order in which the candidates’ names will appear on the ballots for the June 5 commune council elections.
The NEC noted in a March 31 announcement that every commune in 19 of the 25 principal administrative divisions had completed the process, with only Phnom Penh and the provinces of Banteay Meanchey, Kampong Thom, Pursat, Ratanakkiri and Svay Rieng remaining.
The committee explained that the draw is a standard process that is carried out after all participating political parties have registered their candidates at each commune election commission.
It added that the draws are held in the presence of monks and retired elderly people that hold a “neutral” position and are greenlit by the political parties.
Of the 47 registered political parties, 17 will be contesting the upcoming elections.
NEC spokeman Hang Puthea told The Post on April 3 that commune council election papers must be specifically prepared for each commune because the number of candidates can be different depending on which parties are participating.
He said complaints against some candidates meant that some communes had not yet conducted their draws, as the NEC had to resolve any complaints before finalising registration.
“As of April 3, there are no more complaints against any other candidates. All of the complaints filed to NEC have been resolved and cannot be appealed. The NEC will draw the order for candidates in the remaining communes soon,” he said.
Funcinpec spokesman Nhoeun Raden told The Post on April 3 that his party had registered more than 700 candidates for the commune elections. He said the way the draws were conducted was perfectly acceptable.
“Some of our candidates are on the first or second line. It is different from commune to commune though. It is not static across the country like the national election,” he said.
