PHNOM PENH, July 29- Malaysian Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim joined other observers to monitor Cambodia’s fifth general election Sunday.
The minister was of the view that the polls had been conducted in an organised and peaceful manner.
He also noted that preparations by the National Election Committee (NEC) were satisfactory.
“From what I can see, the NEC had taken the necessary steps to ensure that the polls were conducted in a proper manner, one that reflected integrity. For me, there was no cheating,” he told the Malaysian media here.
Shahidan was part of the 291-member international delegation here at the invitation of the International Conference of Asian Political Parties (ICAPP) and Centris Asia Pacific Democrats International (CAPDI) to observe the election.
The delegation visited several polling centres in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh, including one at the Takmao parlimentary constituency contested by Prime Minister Hun Sen.
Earlier, the observers were also given the opportunity to inspect election materials, including the indelible ink, ballot papers and the stamp of proof.
Shahidan observed that the Cambodian electoral process was quite similar to Malaysia’s, such as the use of identification documents and electoral lists to cross-check eligibilty, as well as the use of indelible ink.
According to the minister, the election was “very peaceful”, without any violent incident.
“I hope the Cambodians will respect the election results,” Shahidan said of the polls where about 9.6 million people were eligible to cast their ballots, with eight parties eyeing to fill the 123-seat parliament.
He added that political awareness among Cambodians in exercising their democratic right was high, and “this bodes well for the kingdom’s future”.
Meanwhile, Canada’s former deputy prime minister Sheila Copps said she was satisfied with the election process, so far.
Copps, who arrived here on Thursday, said she had meetings with leaders of all major Cambodian political parties and attended three rallies mounted by different parties.
“I’m pleased to see that there was no sense of intimidation or manipulation. We’ll prepare a report after this and recommendations for further improvement will be forwarded to the NEC,” she told Bernama.
Communist Party of China’s international department deputy director Zhao Shitong hoped the election results would mirror the will and choices of the Cambodian people.
The general election was Cambodia’s fifth since 1993, when the United Nations helped stage the country’s first free polls since the 1975-79 genocidal rule of the Khmer Rouge and a subsequent period of civil war and one-party rule.
– BERNAMA
