Brussels - The weekend's parliamentary elections in Cambodia
were an improvement on earlier polls, but important shortfalls
remained, the European Union's executive said Thursday.
'In comparison to previous elections, important progress has been
made, including efforts to improve transparency guarantees,' EU
foreign-affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a
statement.
'However, a number of key international standards for democratic
elections, mostly related to the uneven playing field between
political parties, have not been met,' she said.
Ahead of Sunday's election, the EU sent 130 officials to Cambodia
to observe the conduct of the vote.
'The mission concluded that the conduct of these elections shows
improvements to previous elections,' the commission statement said.
However, it also concluded that 'there was a lack of confidence in
the impartiality of electoral authorities; the campaign period was
marked by widespread use of state resources; access to media was
difficult for opposition parties; and civic education was assessed as
biased in favour of the ruling party,' the statement said.
The election ended in a landslide victory for the ruling Cambodian
People's Party (CPP), with at least 90 out of 123 seats.
The EU's observation mission is set to stay in Cambodia until the
end of August, with a final report due 'in the coming months,' the
commission statement said.
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