Cambodia's four political parties have opened campaign season with television spots for upcoming Senate election to be held on Jan. 22, an official said on Thursday.

"The election preparation is going on well," said Leng Sochea, the spokesman of the National Election Committee (NEC). "Only four political parties are on the ballots," he added.

The Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the royalist FUNCINPEC party, the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) and the lesser-known Khmer Democratic Party (KDP) are broadcasting their achievements and promises for the future during the limited campaign period.

The CPP's advertisements promote the party's main accomplishments and highlight Prime Minister Hun Sen's crackdown on injustice. The party is also broadcasting the premier's speeches on ending corruption, while displaying historic imagines of CPP leaders' activities since the establishment of the party.

FUNCINPEC President Prince Norodom Ranariddh is shown on television calls for poverty reduction and an end to deforestation.

Speaking from France, where SRP's leader Sam Rainsy has been in self-imposed exile for nearly a year, he said that the party will pursue democracy. He also promises to increase the salaries of civil servants and garment workers, and lower the price of gasoline and electricity.

The lesser-known Khmer Democratic Party has no achievements to boast about, so it instead is highlighting the party's history and the background of its president, Ouk Phouri.

In a statement released on Tuesday, the National Election Committee announced its preparedness for the Senate election.

The committee plans to distribute materials, including voting boxes, ballots, ink (to color voters' fingers) and the official list of eligible voters, to the provinces on January 18 and 19, NEC Executive Director Em Sophat said in the statement.

The NEC has established 33 sites where voting will take place in eight regions throughout the country, Leng Sochea said.

Only 11,261 commune councilors and 123 parliamentarians will be allowed to select 57 out of 61 new senators. The other four will be nominated or selected by the King and the National Assembly.

It is the first-ever Senate election since it was established in 1999.

Source: Xinhua