Cambodia

“Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia”: Once a phrase commonly seen on banners in Phnom Penh, it has now taken to the streets.

Over a month after the 2013 general elections in Cambodia, planned demonstrations against the results are taking place worldwide. Following decades of civil war, with peace came ignorance, as the tiny nation lying south of Thailand was so often overlooked. After years of international disregard, Cambodia is slowly being placed back on the world’s political map, with democracy looming in the horizon.

Twenty-five out of the 123 lawmakers elected during the July 28 national election are female, the official election results have shown. Sunday.

The figures indicated that the number of women-lawmakers in the upcoming fifth legislature of the National Assembly is lower than that of the previous mandate of 27 female lawmakers.

During the country's most recent election, opposition parliamentarian Mu Sochua saw her brave countrywomen standing up to corruption and demanding change.
After intense campaigning throughout Cambodia that took more than 12 months—from the mountains of MondulKiri to the former stronghold of the Khmer Rouge in Samlot—the 2013 general election produced the result we’d all been aiming for: P'dho, Chneas. Change, We Can.

As Cambodia's most visible female politician, Mu Sochua is a leader in the fight for democratic reform and women's rights, although both issues are looked at with skepticism in this male-dominated society.