The 5th Senate Election 2024 was conducted on Feb. 25 smoothly in a free and fair manner, affirmed H.E. Prach Chan, Chairman of the National Election Committee (NEC).

At a dissemination meeting with stakeholders on the election’s general situation at the NEC’s headquarters here this evening, H.E. Prach Chan said that 11,730 out of the 11,747 eligible voters or 99.8 percent, went to vote at the 33 polling stations in the eight regional constituencies throughout Cambodia.

This non-universal suffrage was held under the witness of 228 political parties’ observers, 760 local observers from 18 associations and NGOs, 30 foreign observers and 306 journalists, including 25 foreign journalists from 14 media organisations, he pointed out.

‘The preliminary results are expected to be released on Feb. 29, while the official ones will be around Mar. 4 to 6, 2024,’ he underlined.

According to unofficial results, the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won a landslide victory.

Besides CPP, other three political partie
s, namely the Khmer Will Party, the FUNCINPEC Party, and the National Power Party, also competed for 58 among the 62 seats at the Senate, while two of the remaining seats will be appointed by His Majesty the King and the other two by the National Assembly.

The 4th Senate Election took place in 2018, during which CPP won all the 58 seats.

The Senate of Cambodia was established on Mar. 25, 1999 with 61 senators. At that time, the senate members were appointed, not by election, of them 33 were from the CPP, 21 from the FUNCINPEC Party and seven from the Sam Rainsy Party.

Source: Agence Kampuchea Presse

A South Korea-based company sanctioned by the United States over its alleged connection to Russia is currently under investigation by authorities here, a foreign ministry official said Sunday.

Daesung International Trading, a company located in South Korea’s southeastern city of Gimhae, was one of 93 entities added to an “entity list” for export restrictions by the Bureau of Industry and Security under the U.S. Commerce Department on Friday.

“Regarding the company, we shared information with the U.S. in advance, and our relevant authorities are also currently conducting an investigation,” the official said, noting the government plans to continue to work closely with Washington and other key nations in implementing sanctions against Russia.

According to a South Korean government official, the head of Daesung International Trading is a Pakistani national.

South Korea’s trade ministry said it and the country’s customs agency are looking into the company’s alleged law violations, such as the Foreign Trade A
ct. After the probe, the government plans to punish and sanction it if any breach of law is found.

The U.S. sanctions were announced on the eve of the second anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and in the wake of the death of Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.

Meanwhile, Cubit Semiconductor Ltd., a Dublin-based company, has been sanctioned by the U.S., as it has made dozens of shipments of sensitive electronic components to sanctioned Russian manufacturer, JSC Mikron, The Irish Times reported, citing the U.S. treasury department’s office of foreign assets control.

The directors of Cubit Semiconductor are two Korean nationals, and the company has offices in Ireland and Korea, it said.

South Korea’s foreign ministry said it has been in close consultation with the U.S. over the case, as Washington has shared related information with Seoul in advance of the company’s addition to the sanctions list.

Source: Yonhap News Agency