One of the fields of activity of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) in the political sphere is monitoring of presidential elections, parliamentary elections and referendums in various countries.
From July 21 to 24, 2023, the SCO Observer Mission (hereinafter referred to as the Mission), at the invitation of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the National Election Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia, carried out observation work at the elections of Members of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia - a State that has the status of an SCO Dialogue Partner.
The SCO was established in 2001 and, so far, organized 67 election observer missions, including during the previous Cambodian parliamentary elections in 2018.
The Mission regards the invitation of international observers by the Kingdom of Cambodia as a reflection of its desire to ensure the openness and transparency of this political event.
 
1. Composition of the Mission
As part of the Mission, the National Electoral Committee gave accreditation to 8 observers of SCO - officials of the SCO Secretariat and the Executive Committee of the SCO Regional Anti-Terrorist Structure (RATS).
The mission was led by SCO Deputy Secretary General Shuhrat Sobirzoda.
The Mission included:
From the SCO Secretariat:
Gulmeira Kenebayeva - Expert of the second category;  Margulan Ibraimov – Referent; and Sai Teja - Referent.
From the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS:
Li Keming - Advisor to the Executive Committee of the SCO RATS; Chaudhary Brij Mohan Singh - Referent; Liu Gang - Assistant to the Adviser;  Bakhtiyor Islamov - Referent.
 
2. Activities of the Mission
The Mission performed its functions guided by the Provision "On the SCO Observer Mission for Presidential and/or Parliamentary Elections, as well as Referendums", while observing the principles of political neutrality, objectivity and non-interference in the internal affairs of the State, in accordance with the national legislation of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
After receiving an invitation from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Kingdom of Cambodia in June 2023, the SCO Secretariat constituted the Mission. By order of the SCO Secretary General Zhang Ming, a Working Group of the Secretariat was established to coordinate the work of the Mission. An analysis of the practice of holding elections, the specifics of national legislation was carried out by the Working Group, along with the monitoring of the media during the campaigns for the election of the Members of the National Assembly. SCO Secretariat published relevant information on the activities of the Mission in these elections.
The Head and participants of the Mission met with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia Hun Sen, the National Election Committee, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, local election authorities, international and public observers, media representatives and political parties. Visits were also conducted to observe the Political campaigns.
All conclusions are based on factual material collected during the preparation for the elections and directly during the voting period.
 
3. Laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia on parliamentary elections
The mission undertook an in-depth analysis of Cambodia's electoral legislation. Necessary provisions have been created at the legislative level for all participants in the electoral process. Elections are based on the free exercise by a citizen of the Kingdom of Cambodia of his right to vote and to be elected.
The legal basis for the election of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia is:
- Constitution of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- The Law on Political Parties of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- Law on the Organization and Functioning of the National Election Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- The Law on the Election of Members of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- Royal Decrees on the appointment of the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the National Election Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- Royal decrees on the status of officials of the National Election Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- Regulations on the establishment and functioning of the Secretariat of the National Electoral Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- Regulations and procedures on the election of Members of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia;
- other regulatory and legal documents.
Elections of Members of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia are held in accordance with the principles of multiparty liberal democracy. The current elections to the National Assembly are being held for the seventh time since 1993, when the first multiparty parliamentary elections were organized in the country. The election date is determined and announced by the Prime Minister of Cambodia at the request of the Minister of the Interior. Elections of Members of the National Assembly are held only on a single day - Sunday.
 
4. Status of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia
The Parliament of the Kingdom of Cambodia consists of two chambers: the National Assembly and the Senate.
The National Assembly consists of over 120 Members. They are elected for a five-year term by citizens of the state who have reached the age of 18, on the basis of universal, free, fair, equal and direct suffrage by a secret ballot.
In the third year of each Legislature of the National Assembly, the Government of Cambodia forms a committee to determine the specific number of seats (not less than 120 seats) in the next convocation of the National Assembly. The committee, taking into account demographic, geographical and socio-economic factors in the country, develops recommendations for the Government on the need to increase or maintain the number of seats. On the basis of these recommendations, the Government of Cambodia issues a legal act in which it determines the number of seats in the next convocation of the National Assembly. This legal act is published one year before the next parliamentary elections.
It was determined that there would be 125 seats in the current seventh convocation of the National Assembly.
Citizens of the country of both sexes who have reached the age of 25, that have received Khmer citizenship by birth and have been nominated by a registered political party participating in the elections, have the right to be elected to the National Assembly.
 
5. Organizational structure of electoral bodies
The electoral bodies of Cambodia consist of a four-tier hierarchical system, which includes:
1) National Electoral Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia; 
2) Provincial Election Commissions;
3) Commune Election Commissions;
4) Commissions of Polling Stations.
The highest electoral body is the National Electoral Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia, which is responsible for planning, organizing and managing elections throughout the country. The National Electoral Committee consists of 9 members, including the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.
In the provinces, regional/municipal election commissions are created for conducting the elections, each of which consists of 5-7 members. Twenty-five Provincial Election Commissions have been established throughout the country.
Communal Election Commissions consisting of 5 members have been established in the 1652 communes across the territory of the State.
In addition, 23,789 polling stations were established throughout the state, each with 6-members for their administration.
 
6. Preparatory work for the elections
In order to successfully conduct the elections, the Cambodian electoral authorities carried out a number of activities, in particular:
1) For 2023, the National Electoral Committee registered 9,710,645 voters, who have reached the age of 18 and have the right to vote, out of more than a total population of over 17 million. Every citizen with the right to vote had the opportunity to check the his name in the list of voters through the website www.voterlist.nec.gov.kh.
2) In order to simplify the search and location of polling stations in the country, an App was developed by the order of the National Electoral Committee. Any interested person could find the address and geographic location of any polling station, commune or provincial commission through the website www.pollingstation.nec.gov.kh.
3) A Contact Centre has been established under the leadership of the National Electoral Committee. Anybody could enquire regarding the election process and receive a comprehensive answer via the hotline 1800203030.
4) In order to raise awareness of the participants in the electoral process, the National Electoral Committee published various brochures and other information, including the Code of Conduct for Journalists during Elections, the Code of Conduct for International Observers, Code of Conduct for National Observers, etc. Legal documents were posted on the website of the National Electoral Committee in Khmer, as well as in English for some documents, which enabled a detailed understanding of the legislation of the country. All relevant news on the elections were also periodically published on the website of the organization.
5) Public TV and radio channels provided equal airtime for all political parties for the campaign.
6) Special training were organized on the topic “Voting, ballot counting and election result proclamation” for members of various electoral bodies and other participants in the electoral process to improve their knowledge and competence in the field of election organization.
7) In order to ensure security, 100,897 police officers were involved during the entire campaign period (July 1-21 this year) and on election day (July 23 this year).
8) Voter registration used fingerprinting technology.
 
7. Political parties and candidates for deputies participating in the parliamentary elections
In preparation for the parliamentary elections, the National Electoral Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia registered 18 political parties, which nominated 3,428 candidates for membership of National Assembly, of which 1,235 were female representatives.
The following political parties took part in the elections:
1) Beehive Social Democratic Party;
2) Khmer United Party;
3) Cambodian Nationality Party;
4) Khmer National Unity Party;
5) Democracy Power Party;
6) Farmers’ Party;
7) Women's Party for Women;
8) Khmer Anti-Poverty Party;
9) FUNCINPEC party;
10) Dharmacracy Party;
11) Grassroots Democratic Party;
12) People Purpose Party;
13) Khmer Economic Development Party;
14) Ekpheap Cheat Khmer party;
15) Khmer Conservative Party;
16) Cambodian Youth Party;
17) Cambodian Indigenous People Democratic Party;
18) Cambodian People's Party.
 
8. National and international observers, media representatives
About 90,000 observers were accredited by the National Election Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia, including over 400 international observers from foreign countries and a number of international organizations, including ASEAN, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the International Conference of Asian Political Parties, think tanks and others, as well as national observers from 137 public and non-governmental organizations and local political parties.
Considering that transparent and democratic elections cannot be held without the active participation of the media, over 1,400 people from 165 major national and international media outlets were accredited in the lead up to the elections.
 
9. Voting Day
Elections were held on July 23, 2023 from 07:00 AM to 15:00 PM.
On the election day, the members of the Mission visited the polling stations at the time of their opening and were present during the preparation of the ballot papers and setting up of the station.
The mission carried out monitoring of the polling process in the capital Phnom Penh and Kandal province.
On the day of voting, the Mission members visited 68 polling stations, as well as Communal Election Commissions of the Kingdom of Cambodia.
The choice of the polling station was made by the members of the Mission independently. No obstacles were created for members of the Mission to visit any polling station.
The Mission notes the active participation of voters in the voting and the professional level of training of employees associated with the conduct of the election at all levels.
The organizers at the polling stations created all necessary conditions for smooth implementation of the voting process and were impartial. They actively responded to any issues faced by the voters.
The representatives of the electoral bodies acted in a professional, transparent and independent manner.
At polling stations, voting took place calmly, in compliance with the established procedure and in the presence of local and international observers, as well as media representatives.
Necessary conditions were created to enable people with disabilities to vote at the polling stations.
The members of the Mission were also present at the closing of polling stations, the counting of votes and the declaration of results by the electoral bodies.
On the day of voting, there were no complaints or comments were received by the representatives of the Mission.
 
10. Conclusions of the Mission
The Mission states that the elections of the Members of the National Assembly of the Kingdom of Cambodia on July 23, 2023 met the democratic standards, including the requirements stipulated by the country's legislation.
The Mission did not notice violations of the norms of the National electoral legislation or of the international obligations, that cast a doubt on the legitimacy of the elections.
The Mission recognizes the current elections as peaceful, transparent, credible and democratic.
The Mission states that Cambodia's parliamentary elections were an important step towards the democratization of society; and in ensuring peace, stability and prosperity of the country.
The Mission congratulates the people of the Kingdom of Cambodia on successfully holding the parliamentary elections and wishes success in strengthening the independence, sovereignty and comprehensive development of the country.
The observer mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization expresses its deep gratitude to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, the National Election Committee of the Kingdom of Cambodia, as well as other organizations and institutions for their assistance during the observation process.
 
 
Observers Mission of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization
July 23, 2023