DAP: The breaking news in Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Jan. 4 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia will spend about 21 million U.S. dollars to cover for the proceedings of the general elections on July 28, a senior official at the National Election Committee (NEC) said Friday.

"The budget for the forthcoming elections is about 21 million U.S. dollars, up from about 17 million U.S. dollars in the last elections in 2008," Tep Nytha, NEC's secretary-general, said in a press briefing, saying that the government covers all expenses.

The increase in budget was due to the rise in turnouts, he said, explaining that in the 2008 elections, there were only about 8 million eligible voters, but in the forthcoming elections, there are up to 9.67 million voters.

Cambodia holds a general election once in every five years. The last one was conducted in July 2008.

At that time, the Cambodian People's Party of Prime Minister Hun Sen won 90 seats in the National Assembly, followed by the Sam Rainsy Party with 26 seats, the Human Rights Party 3 seats, the Norodom Ranariddh Party 2 seats and the Funcinpec Party 2 seats.