Cambodia: Legal Revisions Reinforce One-Party Rule
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Cambodian Senate building, the Solidarity Palace, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, August 21, 2026.
© 2026 AP Photo/Heng Sinith (Bangkok, September 4, 2026) – The Cambodian government should withdraw proposed legal amendments that would drastically reduce opposition party representation in top positions on local councils, Human Rights Watch said today. On August 20, 2026, the Cambodian National Assembly, which is dominated by the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), unanimously passed amendments to the Law on the Administration and Management of Commune/Sangkat. The changes to four articles in the law determine the apportionment of elected local council positions across Cambodia’s more than 1,600 communes. The Senate approved the amendments on September 4, which will be in effect for the next commune elections, slated for June 2027. “The new amendments to Cambodia’s commune law, combined with the ruling party’s other repressive measures, appear aimed at eliminating opposition influence and cementing one-party rule at the local level,” said Bryony Lau, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Cambodian People’s Party is forever seeking to minimize if not eliminate the role of opposition politicians in the country’s rule.” Elected commune councilors have broad authority, including issuing identity documents, maintaining local security, and managing local budgets. The amended law targets the allocation of the three key positions within each commune council: the commune chief; the first deputy, who assists on financial and economic matters; and the second deputy, who assists on administration, social affairs, and public services. Existing law apportions these positions to ensure power-sharing and multiparty representation on local councils. Currently, if two parties earn enough votes for at least one council seat in a commune, the winner gets the commune chief and first deputy positions, and the runner-up gets the second deputy position. If three or more parties earn a seat in a single commune, the top three parties each get one of the key positions. The new amendments change this formula, granting all three of the positions to any party that earns two-thirds of the vote in a commune, or granting the top two positions to any party that earns a simple majority of votes. This would heavily favor the CPP, which has consolidated power in recent years in part through banning opposition parties to splinter the opposition into multiple, smaller parties. The expected effects of the amendments can be seen by applying them to past election results. In 2022 in the last local commune elections, the opposition Candlelight Party won 87 second-deputy positions across Phnom Penh’s 105 communes. If those elections were held under the new amendments, the party would have won only three positions. In Siem Reap province, the Candlelight Party won one first-deputy and 90 second-deputy positions across the province’s 100 communes. Under the new amendments, Candlelight would have won just 28 second-deputy positions. Since Cambodia’s Supreme Court in November 2017 dissolved the main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, and the ensuing July 2018 national election, Cambodia has been a de facto one-party state. The CPP controls all national governmental institutions, including the National Assembly, Senate, and National Election Committee. Results from the 2022 commune elections analyzed by Human Rights Watch show numerous and significant irregularities suggesting possible fraud and vote tampering to favor the ruling party. These new amendments reflect a broader campaign of political repression to consolidate CPP power. After competing in the 2022 commune elections, the Candlelight Party was banned from participating ahead of the 2023 national election on concocted administrative grounds. The party could be disqualified on similar grounds from next year’s commune elections. The authorities have engaged in judicial harassment and arbitrarily arrested members of several opposition parties that emerged to contest in Candlelight’s absence. More than 40 opposition activists are currently detained or imprisoned, including Candlelight’s vice president, Thach Setha. Several current and former opposition leaders have been prosecuted on baseless charges and barred from politics by the courts, such as the former Nation Power Party adviser, Rong Chhun. “Cambodia’s elections won’t be taken seriously so long as the government adopts laws and takes other actions that prevent opposition parties and politicians from exercising their basic rights,” Lau said. “Concerned governments should press the Cambodian authorities to reverse the trend of arbitrary restrictions and arrests of opposition politicians.”
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