A Change of Guard

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Sunday 29 January 2012

Senate election kicks off in Cambodia

Voters in Battambang look for their names on the electoral list.

Published: 29-Jan-12

PHNOM PENH (Cambodia Herald) – Cambodia kicked off voting in Senate elections Sunday with the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) competing for 57 of the 61 seats in the upper house.

Among the four remaining seats, two will be appointed by the king and the other two elected by the National Assembly, the lower house of parliament.

Of 11,470 voters eligible to cast ballots, 11,351 are Commune Council members elected in 2007 and 119 are National Assembly members elected in 2008.

Prime Minister Hun Sen cast his vote in Kandal province near Phnom Penh. Heng Samrin, president of the National Assembly, and Kim Sokha, president of the Human Rights Party, cast their ballots in the eastern province of Kompong Cham.

Exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, believed to be in France, was unable to vote.

Unlike the National Assembly and Commune Councils which have five-year terms, the Senate has six-year terms. In the outgoing second Senate, the CPP controled 45 of the 61 seats. Funcincpec had 12, of which 2 were elected by the National Assembly and the SRP had 2 seats. In the first Senate, the CPP controled 31 Seats, Funcinpec 21 seats, the SRP 7 seats.

The Senate was initiated by former King Norodom Sihanouk to break a political deadlock after National Assembly elections in 1998.

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