Jul 31, 2008, 10:49 GMT
Brussels - The weekend's parliamentary elections in Cambodia were an improvement on earlier polls, but important shortfalls remained, the European Union's executive said Thursday.
'In comparison to previous elections, important progress has been made, including efforts to improve transparency guarantees,' EU foreign-affairs commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said in a statement.
'However, a number of key international standards for democratic elections, mostly related to the uneven playing field between political parties, have not been met,' she said.
Ahead of Sunday's election, the EU sent 130 officials to Cambodia to observe the conduct of the vote.
'The mission concluded that the conduct of these elections shows improvements to previous elections,' the commission statement said.
However, it also concluded that 'there was a lack of confidence in the impartiality of electoral authorities; the campaign period was marked by widespread use of state resources; access to media was difficult for opposition parties; and civic education was assessed as biased in favour of the ruling party,' the statement said.
The election ended in a landslide victory for the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), with at least 90 out of 123 seats.
The EU's observation mission is set to stay in Cambodia until the end of August, with a final report due 'in the coming months,' the commission statement said.
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