NEC refutes allegations of bias in job recruitment

THE National Election Committee (NEC) said the recruitment of officials for the 2023 national election process was carried out in accordance with the law, rejecting claims that some officials may be biased towards the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

The response came after four political parities – Candlelight (CP), Grassroots Democratic (GDP), Khmer Will (KWP) and Cambodian Reform (CRP) – asked NEC not to recruit officials to the capital-provincial election secretariats or communes if they were affiliated with the CPP.

NEC spokesman Hang Puthea told The Post on September 12 that NEC had followed standard recruitment procedures and would only appoint officials who could serve the nation responsibly.

“Alleging that we would recruit officials from the ruling party is absurd and I have no idea under what basis they could make these claims,” he said.

He said the parties’ “personal feelings” may have coloured their thinking, as the announcement of the recruitment was made with no mention of any party at all.

“Regardless of where the new employees are recruited from, if they serve as NEC officials they will be expected to follow our rules and procedures and not deviate from them. We have strict policies and guidelines for all of our officials. We lay the path they must follow – like a train running along the tracks,” he said.

Puthea said NEC was preparing to recruit nearly 7,000 short-term contracted officials for the voter list verification and registration process.

Son Chhay, vice-president of the Candlelight Party, told The Post on September 11 that the Candlelight Party expected to obtain strong results in next June’s national elections, provided the NEC did not recruit officials who were affiliated with any political party – especially the ruling one.

“If the NEC officials are improved, we hope to succeed,” he said.

The four parties submitted a proposal to NEC in August aiming to ensure the commune election commission officials and capital/provincial election commission officials are non-partisan and independent.

CPP spokesman Sok Eysan told The Post on September 12 that NEC officials at all levels operate according to the laws, and anyone selected to work for NEC would automatically be independent and impartial.

He said that when the recruitment was announced, NEC made it very clear that they would proceed according to its criteria. After recruitment, NEC would run training courses to ensure the new officials understand their roles.

“These points all reinforce that the allegations of these non-governmental parties have no basis in reality,” he said.