THE European Commission began a two-day training workshop Thursday for NEC officials working in a public information capacity.

The aim of the workshop is to increase public awareness at the polls, said Set Van Doorn, the EC's political adviser to Cambodia.

"In a democratic country, an election is not [fair] if information is hidden or not accessible," he told 40 officials from the National Election Committee.

Last week, the EC signed a memorandum of understanding with the NEC to send two experts on media and law to Cambodia to help the election body's staff strengthen the election system in Cambodia.

"This workshop will improve election officials' capacity to provide information to the voters," Tep Nytha, the NEC's secretary general, said during the launch, adding that the NEC had experienced problems regarding their dispersal of information in the past.

"Some politicians and other activists always accuse us of discriminating over who we provide information to, saying that we discriminate between political parties," he said.