Officials counting ballots during June 5 commune council election. - PPP
PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen won a landslide victory in the fifth commune elections on June 5, according to official results released by the National Election Committee (NEC) on Friday (June 24)
Seventeen political parties contested in the polls for the 11,622 positions of commune councilors in 1,652 communes across the South-East Asian nation for the next five years.
The NEC said the CPP won 9,376 seats, or 80.6 per cent, while the main opposition Candlelight Party got 2,198 seats, or 18.9 per cent.
It added that the Funcinpec party earned 19 seats, the Khmer National United Party got 13, the Grassroots Democratic Party won six, the Cambodian Nation Love Party gained five, the Cambodian Youth Party took three, and the Kampucheaniyum Party and the Beehive Social Democratic Party got one each.
NEC's chairman Prach Chan said the voter turnout was 7.39 million, or 80.3 per cent of the 9.2 million registered voters.
"It was a successful election with a peaceful atmosphere," he said.
"Security, safety and public order were well maintained, and no incidents or acts of violence were reported."
The commune polls are seen as a test for the popularity of political parties ahead of the general elections in July 2023.
