Cambodian ruling party wins majority in local elections: PM

majority in the fourth commune elections on Sunday, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Monday.

"According to the informal figures, the turnout was 6,743,329, and the Cambodian People's Party received 3,529,400 votes equal to 51.39 percent," he wrote on his Facebook page, adding that the CPP saw an increase of more than 300,000 votes if compared to the votes it got in the national elections in 2013.

The 64-year-old prime minister said that based on the figures, the CPP is still expected to win the majority in the national elections in July 2018.

Hun Sen also extended his profound thanks to the party's leaders and members at all levels for bringing the victory to the party again.

Twelve political parties had contested in Sunday's elections, with the ruling CPP and the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) being the major contestants.

Speaking in a press conference late Sunday, CNRP's spokesman Yim Sovann accepted that the party lost the elections, saying that the party earned 46 percent of the votes.

The preliminary results are expected to be released on June 5 and the official results will be publicized on June 25, according to the National Election Committee.

Held once every five years, the commune elections were to elect 11,572 commune chiefs and councilors for the kingdom's 1,646 communes.

The commune elections are seen as a test for the popularity of political parties ahead of the national elections in July 2018.