Prime Minister Hun Sen had predicted that a new seventh mandate government could be formed by late August, assuming the forthcoming general election goes smoothly as planned.

Addressing 18,000 garment workers on June 8 in Samaki Meanchey district, Kampong Chhnang province, Hun Sen said that he selected the election day for July 23 as July has just two Sundays – 23 and 30. He said Cambodian election law stipulates that the general election must take place on a Sunday in July.

“I predict that a new government could be formed by the end of August. The Constitutional Council of Cambodia (CCC) allows the National Election Committee (NEC) to announce a formal election outcome and name the elected candidates. The King can convene members of the National Assembly on August 30, and on August 31, a government could be formed,” he explained.

He noted that Cambodia has always adopted the clear and honest principles of democracy, adding that unlike some other nations, the Kingdom has never dissolved parliamentary before official end of the mandate laid out in the Constitution.

He also renewed his calls for all registered citizens to exercise their democratic rights and vote in the election.

Political observer Yang Peou, secretary-general of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, was of the view that the CPP would win a landslide in the July general election and that a government would be formed shortly after the election.

“I believe the seventh mandate will be led by the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). As long as the nation is still led by the CPP, in my opinion, society will remain stable, orderly and the way will be open for the continued development of the nation,” he said.

Ro Vannak, co-founder of the Cambodian Institute for Democracy (CID) also believed the CPP will win the election and continue to hold power in the next mandate, given the effectiveness of the CPP’s grassroots movements.

Eighteen political parties had registered to gearing up to contest in the July 23.