Cambodia: Parliament Endorses New Cabinet

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  Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen walks on his way to the National Assembly in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Wednesday, 24 Sept 2008. (Photo courtesy: AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA: Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen promised to combat corruption and advocate good governance as he unveiled the country's new Cabinet on Thursday (25 Sept).

Cambodia's newly elected lower house of parliament, overwhelmingly packed with lawmakers from Hun Sen's ruling party, voted to approve the Cabinet, which is filled with the same ministers who served in Hun Sen's administration the past five years.

"A new term but with the same old face," Hun Sen, 57, told the National Assembly after the vote.

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party took 90 of 123 seats in July elections, ensuring that it will have a free hand in virtually all legislative matters.

Hun Sen, Asia's longest-serving leader, said his new government will not "waver in its commitment to accelerate development and comprehensive reform."

He has made similar promises in the past to foreign aid donors, who give hundreds of millions of dollars in aid each year to the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

But critics have often criticized his government for doing little to control corruption, illegal logging and land-grabbing by well-connected businessmen.

Cambodia was ranked 166 among 180 countries in Transparency International's 2008 Corruption Perceptions Index, where the No. 1 country is the least corrupt. Transparency International is a Berlin-based international non-governmental agency.

Hun Sen responded to the findings with his trademark rebuff, saying many issues in Cambodia have been exaggerated by his critics.

"It is their right to write whatever they want," he said. "Nothing is perfect in this world. Social injustice and corruption occur everywhere. The difference is how small or big they are."

All 26 lawmakers of the Sam Rainsy Party, Cambodia's main opposition group, boycotted Thursday's vote, as did three other lawmakers from the Human Rights Party. The two parties have disputed the results of July's election, saying they were rigged to help secure votes for Hun Sen's party. (AP)