People visit the Ounalom pagoda in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, April 14, 2022. Cambodia on Thursday began to celebrate the traditional New Year festival after muted celebrations in the last two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic.Photo:Xinhua

The fifth commune elections kicked off in Cambodia on Sunday after a peaceful two-week election campaign to choose commune chiefs and councilors for 1,652 communes.

A total of 23,602 polling stations opened at 7 am and are due to close at 3 pm local time, according to the National Election Committee (NEC).

Seventeen political parties are contesting in the polls, with the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen and the opposition Candlelight Party being the major contestants.

Hun Sen voted at a polling station near his residence in Kandal province's Ta Khmau city, about 10 kilometers south of capital Phnom Penh.

The prime minister did not make any statement after casting his ballot, but he expressed hope on Friday that all political parties would accept the election results.

He said the participation of more than a dozen political parties in the polls clearly reflected "the success of the multi-party liberal democratic process in Cambodia."

The NEC said about 9.2 million eligible voters, or 87.9 percent of the total population of 18 years old and above, are expected to vote in the elections.

Preliminary election results are expected to be announced on Sunday and Monday, and the official results will be released on June 26.

Held once every five years, the commune elections are seen as a bellwether of a party's support ahead of the general elections in 2023. In the last commune elections in 2017, the ruling CPP won 1,156 out of the then 1,646 communes. 

Xinhua