PHNOM PENH (Xinhua): The campaign for the fifth Senate election in Cambodia kicked off on Saturday, with the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) holding a large rally.
Yich Samethy, a member of the National Election Committee (NEC), said the campaign period will last 14 days, ending two days before the Feb. 25 election.
Four political parties are standing in the election: the ruling CPP, the Funcinpec Party, the Khmer Will Party, and the Nation Power Party, he added.
The CPP said some 10,000 of its supporters hit the streets in Phnom Penh on Saturday to campaign for the election.
In a message to mark the start of the campaign, CPP's President Samdech Techo Hun Sen expressed his profound gratitude to the people for trusting and supporting the CPP in all circumstances in the past 45 years.
He said the CPP will "strictly comply with the laws, regulations, procedures, and ethics of the election and respect the election results."
He added that the party will cooperate with all parties concerned to maintain a good political atmosphere in order to ensure a free and fair election.
The election for the Senate, or the upper house, held every six years, is non-general because ordinary citizens do not take part in the electoral process.
According to the NEC, all 125 National Assembly members and 11,622 commune councilors will vote at 33 polling stations across the Southeast Asian country.
The Senate has 62 seats, but the vote will be held for 58 seats only, as two senators will be appointed by Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni and two others by the National Assembly, or the lower house.
In the last Senate election in 2018, the CPP won all 58 seats. - Xinhua
