Altogether 102,266 candidates, including 21,840 female ones, will compete for 11,353 seats in 1, 621 communes nationwide in Cambodia during commune councils election which will start on Friday, said a press release issued on Thursday.

During the 15-day polling process, a total of 7,799,371 registered voters will cast their votes at 14,428 polling stations in 24 provinces and cities, said the release from the National Election Committee (NEC).

A total of 86,568 officers, together with 13,080 national observers and 117 international ones, will supervise the polling process at all the stations, it said, adding that 12 political parties have joined the election.

Among them, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) will compete in 1,621 communes, the Sam Rainsy Party in 1,596 communes, the Funcinpec Party in 1,460 communes and the Norodom Ranariddh Party in 1,431 communes, it said.

Altogether 271 national and international reporters have registered to cover the election, which will be conducted at the cost 13,052,555 U.S. dollars, it said.

Among the budget, 6,526,277 U.S. dollars is from the Cambodian government, 2,964,989 U.S. dollars from Japan, 500,000 U.S. dollars from Australia and the rest from China and other sources, it said.

Preliminary results of the kingdom's second ever commune councils election will be published on April 1 and the official announcement will be made on April 24, it added.

The current election will lay the groundwork for next year's general election, which will elect the 4th government in the kingdom's history.

Source: Xinhua