I.  Electoral Body

1- Amend chapter 3 of the National Assembly election law, election administration, which states the elaboration of the NEC.

Not included.  Nothing on elections is included in the PRSP draft.

-          Component: five members (no political representative and they should all be public figures)

-          Criteria: independent, neutral, non-partisan, competent and well known.

i.                     Not a member of a political party.

ii.                   Resigned from political party at least 9 months prior to the application date.

iii.                  Not allowed to have a role in a political party nor any position in the Royal Government, or key national institutions within 3 years after the end of the term.

iv.                 Holds an advanced education degree, and/or long term experience as a judge, honest  (No criminal record, no human rights abuses and so forth).

v.                   Female candidates are encouraged to apply and indeed have priority.

-          Nomination procedure: Establish one recruitment committee which consists of the following components: representatives of political parties having National Assembly seats, non-governmental organizations and the Cambodian Bar Association.

-          Recruited candidates names should be released to the public in order to get recommendation from the general public before being submitted to the National Assembly for approval.

-          Candidates recruited by the committee will ask for recommendation from the general public before being approved by two third votes, the National Assembly (on time for all candidates or individually).

-          Members of the electoral body should have the immunity or privilege as National Assembly members.

-          The law should ensure the independence and neutrality of the electoral body members

2- Strengthen the function and competence of the NEC members to ensure their independence and neutrality. The law applies to the NEC, thus if they violate any of the above mentioned criteria, they have to be aware of the consequences. In addition, there needs to be a provision that guarantees the state's obligation not to interfere with NEC.

Not included.

II. Electoral System: Right of Independent Groups to Contest as Candidates to Improve Accountability

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-          Electoral system: Proportional system with independent group

-          Political party and non-political party candidates can contest for the election in all constituencies.

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-          For the constituencies that have more than 9 seats, the seats reserved for non-political party candidates list is one third of all seats in these constituencies.

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-          Non-political party candidates cannot form the government if they are elected.

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III. Equitable Gender in Election Presentation (Participation of Women as Representatives)

The proposal is based on a quota of at least 30% of female candidates on both political party and non-political party candidates' lists. Female candidate’s names should alternate with male candidate’s names starting from the top of the candidate list. This quota should also be stated in the electoral legal framework or the policy in order to provide women a more effective opportunity to take part in social and political affairs.

Not included.

IV.  The Enforcement of Electoral Infraction Hearing Process

-          Disseminate information and train court officials, policemen, and the general public on the electoral infractions.

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-          Establish hearing bodies within the existing judicial institution to sentence electoral infractions.

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-          Investigation: Police structures at all levels should coordinate with polling staff of the sub-committee or department of investigation of the NEC.  

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V. Broadcasting Media Access and Debates

To improve the election campaign, recommendations for improving the election laws and NEC regulations should stipulate the clear role of NEC to ensure the equal access of political parties to electronic media.  The government should expand airtime of TV and radio for the NEC and NGOs to run voter education and political party campaigns. The NEC should take proactive measures to ensure the candidates debate on their political platforms and to broadcast their debates.

Not included.