Cambodia's ruling party dominates local elections

Earth Times
http://www.earthtimes.org

Mon, 18 May 2009
Author : DPA

Phnom Penh - Cambodia's ruling party won a resounding majority of votes in the country's inaugural provincial, municipal and district council elections held Sunday, according to preliminary results announced Monday. Figures released by the National Election Committee (NEC) revealed Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won just over 75 per cent of votes in the provincial and municipal elections, while the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) received about 20 per cent of votes.

Voting in the elections was restricted to the country's 11,353 commune councilors and is part of an UN-sponsored effort to decentralize governance in the developing South-East Asian country.
Commune councilors were elected in a general election held in April last year.

The royalist Fucinpec Party won about 2 per cent of votes and the Norodom Ranariddh Party, the party formerly headed by King Norodom Sihanouk's brother, won just under 2 per cent.
The CPP won about 74 per cent of the smaller district elections and the SRP won just over 20 per cent of the vote.

The NEC said only four commune councilors failed to vote in the elections.