Reopen National Assembly Rainsy pleads

The Mekong Times

The opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) on Apr 18 again requested the National Assembly (NA) resume work, despite the fact that the plenary session of the third legislature has officially finished.

This is the second such appeal Sam Rainsy (pictured) has made; the first was recently dismissed by First Deputy NA President Nguon Nhel.

In a letter to Chea Sim, president of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), SRP President Sam Rainsy urged him to press for an extraordinary session to speed the adoption of the long awaited anti-corruption law, law on peaceful demonstrations and make amendments to parliamentary election legislation.

Sam Rainsy claimed that the laws are a priority for Cambodia and cannot wait until the fourth NA legislature after the Jul 27 parliamentary elections. The anti-corruption and the peaceful demonstration laws are especially important, Sam Rainsy stressed. The anti-corruption law would encourage economic development and drive poverty reduction, and the peaceful demonstration law would ensure freedom of expression through peaceful demonstrations and strikes, he argued.

If these two laws are not adopted soon, it means the NA is in the pocket of unscrupulous figures that “bleed the Kingdom dry” through corruption, the opposition leader claimed in his letter. He wrote that such people “destroy the nation at their whim,” allowing authorities to restrict people’s freedom, contrary to the Constitution. Sam Rainsy also warned that a free, fair and just parliamentary election may not be possible without amendments to the election law.

Chea Sim has yet to respond to Sam Rainsy’s comments. Nguon Nhel recently said that the Constitution allows only the Cambodian King, Prime Minister Hun Sen and NA President Heng Samrin the right to convene a parliamentary session while the NA is closed. Without the approval of one of these officials, Sam Rainsy will be powerless, he said.

The NA adopted 146 laws in the last four-year legislature.