CAMBODIA MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL ASSEMBLY ELECTIONS 27 JULY 2003 EU ELECTION OBSERVATION MISSION FINAL REPORT TABLE OF CONTENT I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ............................................................................................................. 1 II INTRODUCTION AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................. 2 A. INTRODUCTION ..................................................................................................................... 2 B. COOPERATION WITH OTHER INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS ........................... 3 III POLITICAL BACKGROUND ....................................................................................................... 4 IV LEGAL FRAMEWORK ................................................................................................................. 5 A. RELEVANT LEGISLATION ................................................................................................... 5 B. AMENDMENTS TO THE LAW .............................................................................................. 6 C. ELECTORAL SYSTEM............................................................................................................ 8 D. ADAPTATION OF THE LEGAL FRAMEWORK BY THE NEC .......................................... 8 V ELECTION ADMINISTRATION ................................................................................................. 9 VI PRE- ELECTION PERIOD ......................................................................................................... 11 A. VOTER EDUCATION ............................................................................................................ 11 B. VOTER REGISTRATION ...................................................................................................... 12 C. CANDIDATE REGISTRATION ............................................................................................ 14 D. ELECTORAL CAMPAIGN .................................................................................................... 15 1. Rules of the campaign ...................................................................................................... 15 2. Summary of the Campaign ............................................................................................... 16 E. LAW ENFORCEMENT – COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS ................................................. 17 1. Complaints system on campaign events ........................................................................... 17 2. Reconciliation rather than law enforcement ..................................................................... 19 3. NEC handling of cases related to the campaign period .................................................... 20 4. Focal issues (Village Chiefs, neutrality of administration, gift giving) ........................... 22 VII POLLING, COUNTING AND TABULATION OF RESULTS ................................................ 28 A. POLLING DAY ....................................................................................................................... 28 B. COUNTING DAY ................................................................................................................... 29 C. TABULATION OF RESULTS ............................................................................................... 30 D. COMPLAINTS AND APPEALS FOR VOTING AND COUNTING .................................... 30 VIII POST-ELECTION PERIOD ........................................................................................................ 34 A. PRELIMINARY ELECTION RESULTS ............................................................................... 34 B. COMPLAINTS AFTER PRELIMINARY RESULTS ............................................................ 34 C. FINAL ELECTION RESULTS ............................................................................................... 40 This report was produced by the EU Election Observation Mission and presents the EUEOM’s findings on the election of the Members of the National Assembly in Cambodia. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof. IX MEDIA ........................................................................................................................................... 41 A. MEDIA LANDSCAPE ............................................................................................................ 41 B. LEGAL FRAMEWORK.......................................................................................................... 42 1. General Framework .......................................................................................................... 42 2. Election-related legal framework ..................................................................................... 42 C. ACCESS TO MEDIA .............................................................................................................. 43 D. EU EOM MEDIA MONITORING .......................................................................................... 44 1. State Broadcast Media ...................................................................................................... 45 2. Private Broadcast Media .................................................................................................. 46 3. Written Media .................................................................................................................. 49 E. EUEOM CONCLUSIONS ON THE MEDIA ......................................................................... 50 X RECOMMENDATIONS .............................................................................................................. 51 A. LEGAL .................................................................................................................................... 51 B. ELECTION ADMINISTRATION .......................................................................................... 52 C. MEDIA .................................................................................................................................... 52 XI ANNEXES ...................................................................................................................................... 54 ANNEX Chapter V – Election Administration 55 Structure of the Election Administration 55 ANNEX Chapter VI – Pre Election Period 56 (a) Gender Balance - Political Parties' Candidates 56 (b) Table on Complaints lodged by parties during the Campaign at CEC and PEC level 57 (c) Hearings at the NEC Complaints related to the campaign 61 ANNEX Chapter VII – Polling, Counting and tabulation of Results 63 (a) Complaints related to polling and counting lodged before PECs 63 (b) Hearings and verifications at the NEC of Complaints related to Voting and Counting 65 ANNEX Chapter VIII – Post election Period 67 (a) Preliminary Election Results 67 (b) FUNCINPEC and SRP Complaints lodged before the Constitutional Council 68 (c) Decisions of the Constitutional Council 78 (d) Report on Hearings at the Constitutional Council 86 This report was produced by the EU Election Observation Mission and presents the EUEOM’s findings on the election of the Members of the National Assembly in Cambodia. These views have not been adopted or in any way approved by the Commission and should not be relied upon as a statement of the Commission. The European Commission does not guarantee the accuracy of the data included in this report, nor does it accept responsibility for any use made thereof. EU Election Observation Mission Cambodia 2003 1 Final Report on the Elections of the Members of the National Assembly I EXECUTIVE SUMMARY In its preliminary statement after the elections on 27 July 2003 the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM) concluded, “the 2003 Parliamentary Elections were well conducted” but there was “still some way to go to full democracy”. This Report covers the whole EUEOM observation activities during the election process. It gathers the findings of the Mission that led to the conclusions given in the Preliminary statement. Following previous elections in Cambodia, the legal framework regulating the electoral process had been substantially improved by incorporating changes derived from lessons learnt and to both clarify and strengthen the existing provisions. In particular these modifications referred to the seat allocation system, complaints and appeals proceedings and the establishment of a permanent voter register kept by Commune Councils. The National Election Committee (NEC) has shown a genuine commitment to improving the legal framework, in particular with the adoption of Regulations and Directives. The consultative approach of the electoral administration increased the understanding of the process. NEC appeared to be willing to efficiently fill the gaps of the legal framework as they were emerging, especially when political parties, NGOs or the international community, raised them. However, the numerous NEC directives, whilst welcomed, were not fully enforced. The reluctance of political parties and election officials to fully comply with the revised complaints and appeals system made it less effective. Compared with previous elections the atmosphere was less tense and there were fewer violent incidents,