Cambodia's political parties conclude 21-day campaign for Senate vote

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 27 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's political parties had ended electoral campaigns for the third legislature of the Senate on Friday, two days prior to the vote.

Mao Sophearith, member of the National Election Committee (NEC), said Friday that during the 21-day campaign, the parties had promoted their political stances through marching and broadcasting on the National Television of Cambodia.

"In general, the campaign had been done smoothly with good environment and security," he said in a press briefing to conclude the campaign. "There was no any violence happened during the period."
Only two main political parties will participate in this Sunday ' s election. They are the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and Sam Rainsy Party, a main opposition party in the country.

According to the NEC, the Senate has 61 seats, but the election is held for only 57 seats as two senators will be appointed by the King and the other two by the National Assembly.

Each of the two parties has named 57 full candidates and 57 reserve ones to the NEC to compete in the election.

The Senate election on Sunday will be voted by 119 Members of Parliament and 11,351 commune councilors at 33 polling stations across the country.

The results will be announced on Sunday afternoon.

The Senate election is held every six years. The last one was in January 2006, at that time, three parties -- Cambodian People' s Party, Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy Party -- joined the contest. As a result, the CPP won 45 seats, the Funcinpec 10 seats and the Sam Rainsy party two seats.