Democratic Governance

1. The country’s National Strategic Development Plan places good governance at its core, recognizing it as the most important pre-condition for achieving sustainable socio-economic development with equity, equal opportunity and social justice.
2. The country’s administrative areas comprise one Capital city (Phnom Penh), 23 provinces, 26 municipalities, 159 districts, 9 Khans, and 1633 communes/sangkats.
3. The Law on Administrative Management of Capital, Provinces, Municipalities District and Khans extends representative deliberative power to all levels of Sub-National administration in the country. This law paved the way for developing the National Programme for Sub-National Democratic Development, which will provide the framework for further local governance reforms over the next 10 years.
4. The ruling Cambodian People’s Party holds 90 of the 123 seats in the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament. The remaining seats are held by three other parties.

Sources: 1. National Strategic Development Plan 2006-2010, Royal Government of Cambodia; 2. Local Development Outlook, UNDCF 2010; 3. Annual Report 2009, UNDP 2010; 4. Local Development Outlook, UNDCF; 5. 2008 Election Report, UNDP 2008