Mardi Seng elected to the Senate as Khmer Will Party wins three opposition seats

Mardi Seng was elected to the Senate of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the election held on 25 February 2024. The ruling Cambodian People's Party took 55 of the 58 elected seats; the Khmer Will Party won three.

The result gave Cambodia its first opposition presence in parliament since the Supreme Court dissolved the Cambodia National Rescue Party in 2017. Mardi Seng stood on the Khmer Will Party list after the Candlelight Party, of which he had been Treasurer, was barred from the 2023 national election.

Speaking to Radio Free Asia after the count, he described the three seats as a new start for helping the voiceless. The 62-member Senate convened on 3 April 2024; the term runs to 2030.

Read the Radio Free Asia report