A Change of Guard

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Thursday 17 May 2012

Media discuss election preparations, access to information


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Roundtable Discussion on " Preparation for Election and Access to Information "
PHNOM PENH, 17 May 2012 (Cambodia Herald) - The Club of Cambodian Journalists (CCJ) arranged Wednesday a roundtable discussion on preparations for next month's commune council elections and access to information.

Pen Samitthy, the CCJ president, said independent observers appointed by donors had evaluated elections since 1993, including how they were reported by the media.

"I hope the reports of the election won't be different from previous reports," he said.

Denis Schrey, representative of Germany's Konrad Adenauer Foundation, said freedom of association or civil society was necessary for democracy. He said elections should be free and fair by letting political parties discuss their policies.


"The government has to inform voters about the policies of all parties," Schrey said, adding that the media's role was provide clear, balanced and accurate information.

National Election Committee Secretary General Tep Nitha noted that commune elections were held under commune and national election laws and the commune administrative management law.

He said there were fewer problems, complaints or challenges about names registered in 2011 compared with previous voter registers. He also said that the 9,203,493 voters now registered with the NEC included 900,000 new voters.

Kol Panha, executive director of the Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel), said media should provide as much information about the election environment as possible to the public as well as others such as the NEC.

He urged reporters to contact election observers and to judge the election process by getting factual information and supporting data.

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