PHNOM PENH, July 25 (Xinhua) -- The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) won 120 parliamentary seats as the royalist Funcinpec Party gained the remaining five seats in Sunday's general election of the Southeast Asian country, party spokespersons said on Tuesday.

A total of 18 political parties contested the election, which was held once every five years to elect the members of parliament for the 125-seat National Assembly.

CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said on Tuesday that according to the CPP's calculation based on the National Election Committee (NEC)'s preliminary results, the CPP won 120 seats and the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Chakravuth gained the remaining five seats.

"The CPP received 80 percent of the ballots from 8.21 million voters, winning 120 seats, or 96 percent of the 125 seats in the National Assembly," he told Xinhua.

"This is another great success for the CPP, and it truly reflected people's confidence in the party's leadership," Eysan said. "We will do our best to continue to serve the people."

Hun Manet, the future Prime Minister candidate for the CPP, said people had clearly expressed their wills through votes with a very high turnout rate of more than 84 percent.

"An overwhelming number has expressed support for the Cambodian People's Party," he said in a message released on his official Telegram channel.

Manet, 45, who is also a member of the CPP's Standing Committee, thanked voters for supporting the CPP, vowing to better serve them in the future.

Funcinpec Party spokesman Nhoeun Raden told Xinhua on Tuesday that the NEC's preliminary results showed that the Funcinpec Party gained five seats, or 4 percent in the National Assembly.

He said the party won one seat each in the capital Phnom Penh and the provinces of Kandal, Prey Veng, Kampong Thom and Kampong Cham.

According to the NEC, about 8.21 million people, or 84.58 percent of the 9.71 million eligible voters, cast their ballots in the general election.

Sunday's parliamentary polls was the seventh of its kind in the Southeast Asian country since 1993. In the previous one held in 2018, the CPP won all 125 seats in the National Assembly.

The CPP has ruled Cambodia since 1979, with Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen, also the president of the party, being the prime minister since 1985.

Hun Sen has said that the National Assembly will convene for the first time on Aug. 28, and the new five-year-term government will be sworn in on Aug. 29.

Joseph Matthews, a senior professor at the BELTEI International University in Phnom Penh, said the CPP has strong leadership, clear vision and development strategy, and human and financial resources.

Matthews said under the CPP-led government, Cambodia's economy had grown at an average annual rate of 7.7 percent between 1998 and 2019, making it one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. Enditem

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