The National Election Committee (NEC) Monday officially removed 26 candidates from the list of communal council members.
A total of 26 candidates were removed from the following parties: Sam Rainsy Party (19 candidates), Sangkum Jatiniyum Front party (6 candidates) and Norodom Ranariddh Party (1 candidate).
NEC's Secretary General, Tep Nitha says this is the first time that NEC makes such a decision, and promised that it will continue to screen more candidates.
According to Tep Nitha, the removal of candidates were necessary due to “a handful of candidates requested to be removed because they have registered for two different parties, some were unhappy with their ranks, and other irregularities included names being used without permission."