The National Election Committee (NEC) announced on December 16 that it had closed consultations on the draft rules of next year’s national elections.
NEC secretary-general Tep Nytha appreciated the work the leaders and officials of the NEC General Secretariat had done to draft the rules and procedures, which will now be examined further.
He added that the draft was prepared based on the law – and amendments – for the election of the National Assembly.
He thanked for all of the ministries, state institutions, political parties, associations and NGOs, and the General Secretariats of the capital and provinces for examining and commenting on the draft.
Nytha continued that as the work was urgent, the NEC had sent the draft rules and procedures for examination for just 19 days. If any comments were received after the return date of November 19, however, the NEC would still welcome them, however.
NEC deputy secretary-general Som Sorida said that in addition to legal standards, the Constitution and election law, the NEC had prepared procedures to serve the electoral process and guarantee a free, fair and credible election. The NEC had allowed relevant parties, including political party representatives and civil society organisations to join the consultation process.
He added that five political parties, several NGOs and some national institutions had the consultation. They had also commented on the draft rules regarding the 2023 general election. NEC had received useful input from them which made the draft rules easier to implement transparently.
Committee on Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia (Comfrel) observer Korn Savang said that political parties and civil society organizations had already summited their recommendations to NEC.
As for the consultative meeting, NEC had allowed political parties and the civil society organisations to comment, but had given no indication as to whether the suggestions would be accepted.
He said he had received no response to the comments he submitted before the November 19 deadline, so he had no idea if the NEC had taken any of his organisation’s proposals on board.
Nytha said the coordinating commission had clarified responses to all of the feedback it had received at the consultative meeting. The commission was made up of leaders and specialists from the NEC General Secretariat.
He said all of the comments will be summarised and submitted to the NEC leadership for review.
