Final assessment and report on 2012 commune council elections

In general, COMFREL considered the 2012 commune council election as "limited free" and "did not improve in terms of fairness". Although there was no any sign of growing cases in the violence, some voters remained fearful and cautious of their vote choices due to the atmosphere of strong censorship and intimidation in the pre-election period. Despite a ban on the media's broadcasting in the election day, some media aligned to the ruling party continue to spread a propaganda on the CPP's behalf. The number of voter turn out continued to decline from 87 % in 2002, then 68% in 2007, and then 64%, which was perceived as a serious concern. On the contrary, a growing number of women participation in the commune councils continued, from 8% in 2002 and 15% in 2007, and now 18%.