Raimundo Pereira, former interim president of Guinea-Bissau and now leader of the CEDEAO-RECEF observation team representing Portuguese and French speaking African nations, commended Cambodia’s handling of the July 23 general election.

During his meeting with National Election Committee (NEC) chair Prach Chan in Phnom Penh on July 25, Pereira showed a strong interest in discussing the election procedures with Cambodian officials.

Pereira commented that the Cambodian election had been peaceful, free and transparent, with the populace heading to the polls in significant numbers.

"We have a history of exchanging experiences with various countries, and we're interested in discussing electoral work with Cambodia," he stated.

He also observed the progress of democracy in the Kingdom and expressed a desire for the NEC to allow Cambodian citizens living abroad to participate in future elections.

In response, Chan thanked the delegation for their observations about the election. He also highlighted that Cambodia has been conducting elections for over three decades.

Despite calls from a certain group for voters to boycott or spoil their ballots, Chan pointed out that the voter turnout was over 84 per cent, higher than in previous elections. This turnout was observed by several international observers.

Sam Kuntheamy, executive director of the NGO Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (NICFEC), told The Post on July 26 that many international observers had monitored the general election, though not all polling stations had been observed.

Regardless, Kuntheamy assured that there had been no recorded irregularities at any polling station nationwide during the election process. This statement contributes to the ongoing discussion on the integrity and efficacy of Cambodia's electoral process.