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Observers give tentative approval to Cambodian elections
Phnom Penh, July 27: International and local observers gave their tentative approval to Cambodia`s most peaceful general elections ever today, saying they seemed to have gone well despite irregularities at some polling stations.
Phnom Penh, July 27: International and local observers gave their tentative approval to Cambodia's most peaceful general elections ever today, saying they seemed to have gone well despite irregularities at some polling stations.
A grenade explosion in the capital slightly injured one person, but no other violence was reported anywhere in the country during the eight-hour balloting for a new national
assembly.
But the observers said a final evaluation will not be issued until assessments have come in from observers fanned out across the country's 20 provinces and four municipalities.
Some 600 foreign observers, including groups from the European Union and the United States, joined thousands of local monitors. ``From our reports everything has gone well, from what we have received so far. All our people are in place and they will follow tomorrow the counting,'' said Antonio Menezes, a spokesman for the European Union delegation.
Another main observer group came from the Washington DC-based International Republican Institute, which began deploying officials in January to train representatives of political parties.
It had distributed a comic book-type manual which described their ``rights and responsibilities.''
``While it is evident that the Cambodian people feel very strongly about their right to vote freely, we did see some activity of concern at a number of polling stations,'' said Iri's Christine Todd Whitman, a former administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency who led 50 observers from the group.
Bureau Report
But the observers said a final evaluation will not be issued until assessments have come in from observers fanned out across the country's 20 provinces and four municipalities.
Some 600 foreign observers, including groups from the European Union and the United States, joined thousands of local monitors. ``From our reports everything has gone well, from what we have received so far. All our people are in place and they will follow tomorrow the counting,'' said Antonio Menezes, a spokesman for the European Union delegation.
Another main observer group came from the Washington DC-based International Republican Institute, which began deploying officials in January to train representatives of political parties.
It had distributed a comic book-type manual which described their ``rights and responsibilities.''
``While it is evident that the Cambodian people feel very strongly about their right to vote freely, we did see some activity of concern at a number of polling stations,'' said Iri's Christine Todd Whitman, a former administrator of the US Environmental Protection Agency who led 50 observers from the group.
Bureau Report