PHNOM PENH - Buddhist monks in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh are refusing to register for local elections because they believe voting is against their religion, an independent election monitoring group said on Tuesday.
The Committee for Free and Fair Elections (Comfrel) said intervention from the National Election Committee was needed to clear up the misconception that true Buddhists must remain impartial, even at election time.
"In Phnom Penh, most of the monks have not been well informed," Comfrel said in a statement. "Some said that they are monks so ... they have to be impartial."
Last year more than 50,000 Cambodians were registered as monks, 4,000 of them living in Phnom Penh, Comfrel said.
"Monks also have the right to vote," Comfrel said.
The election, scheduled for February 2002, is the first ever local level election in Cambodia.
08:23 07-31-01
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