Ruling party tipped to win as Cambodians vote

Cambodians cast their ballots on Sunday to decide who will lead the country for the next five years, with the ruling party looking strong, thanks to the impressive progress the country has made.

The country's 7th general election was held from 7 am to 3 pm in 23,789 polling stations across 25 provinces and the capital, according to the country's state media outlet Agence Kampuchea Presse.

"We want a party that can continue to maintain peace and political stability and bring more development to Cambodia," Svay Sareth, a retired teacher, said after casting his ballot.

The voter turnout rate of this year's general election is 84.21 percent, said Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen in a voice message on Sunday evening, citing preliminary figures from the National Election Committee.

Though official results had yet to be announced, which are expected to be announced on Aug 8, a CPP spokesman said they've won a landslide victory, saying that this marked another great success for the CPP.

"We've won in a landslide … but we can't calculate the number of seats yet," said Sok Eysan, spokesperson for the CPP.

Eighteen political parties competed in the election for 125 seats in the National Assembly, with more than 9.7 million people, out of the country's 16 million population, eligible to cast their ballots.

More than 600 international observers from some 60 institutions, including ASEAN Secretary-General Kao Kim Hourn, have been overseeing the election, according to the National Election Committee.

Malaysia's Parliamentary Speaker Johari Abdul, Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam, and many former heads of state, heads of government, former presidents and vice-presidents, were among those invited.

Kao, with other observers, paid a courtesy call on Hun Sen on Saturday, and wished Cambodia a peaceful and orderly general election.

If the election process goes smoothly, Hun Sen said in June that a new government would be formed by the end of August.

Among the parties in the race are the ruling Cambodian People's Party, or CPP, led by Hun Sen and the Funcinpec party, headed by Prince Norodom Chakravuth.

Hun Sen and his wife voted at a polling station near his mansion in Kandal Province, about 15 kilometers south of the capital. Prince Chakravuth cast his ballot in the capital Phnom Penh.

In the last general election in 2018, the CPP won all 125 seats in the National Assembly. Many analysts believe the party will score a landslide victory again this time.

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said the CPP would be unbeatable, given that the party has strong leadership and human and financial resources.

"Cambodia's economy had grown at an average annual rate of 7.7 percent between 1998 and 2019, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world," he said.

Xinhua and agencies contributed to this story.