BANGKOK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 23rd July, 2023) The Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has ruled alone or in coalitions since 1979, is leading in parliamentary elections to Cambodia's 125-seat National Assembly, Secretary General of the National Election Committee (NEC) Tep Nitha said on Sunday.
"Based on the preliminary results that we have collected from the polling stations, CPP is taking the lead in today's election," Tep Nitha was quoted as saying by Cambodian news agency Agence Kampuchea Presse.
The voter turnout stands at 84.58%, or 8.2 million people out of 9.7 million eligible voters in the parliamentary elections, NEC President Prach Chan said.
Polling stations in Cambodia opened on Sunday at 07:00 a.m. local time (00:00 GMT) and closed at 03:00 p.m., following which the counting of ballots began in districts.
About 604 international observers representing 61 organizations, most of them coming from Southeast Asian countries, worked at the elections, the NEC said.
The elections in Cambodia were called a "farce" and a "fake election" by Western media even during the run-up as a number of opposition parties, previously dissolved by Cambodian courts or banned from participating in the elections by the NEC, were not represented.
