The opposition has asked its supporters to sign a petition that calls
on the CPP-led National Assembly to reinstate 27 of its lawmakers who
were stripped of their positions earlier this month, or face
consequences.
The petition forms, which have been sent to opposition supporters and
party members across the country, state that the National Assembly lost
legitimacy when it stripped the SRP and Human Rights Party lawmakers of
their jobs, and threatens protests if they are not reinstated.
“We demand that our lawmakers are allowed to be on their duty to
serve the Cambodian nation as stipulated by the law. In case you do not
take action in compliance with our suggestion, we, Cambodian citizens,
will hold protests across the country demanding the recognition of our
representatives. The current National Assembly is not legitimate,” the
petition states.
Mu Sochua, SRP lawmaker and electoral candidate for the Cambodia
National Rescue Party (CNRP), who was stripped of her National Assembly
position along with 26 colleagues, said that she expected more than
10,000 supporters to thumbprint petition papers.
“We have sent the letters out last week [and] we will collect them late this week,” Ms. Sochua said.
Earlier this month, the National Assembly’s permanent committee,
which is made up of 12 lawmakers solely from Prime Minister Hun Sen’s
ruling CPP, said that the opposition lawmakers were violating the
election law by holding membership of two parties at the same time.
Legal experts called the decisions legally questionable, while
opposition supporters said the move was politically motivated. The U.S.
State Department criticized the expulsion, saying it was in stark
contradiction to the spirit of a healthy democratic process, and asked
for the lawmakers to be reestablished.
CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said Monday that the U.S. had no knowledge of
Cambodian laws, and was therefore in no position to comment on the
expulsion. He also said that the petition was useless, even if millions
of signatures were garnered.
“If they manage to collect 14.5 million [signatures] with [support
of] the USA and The Cambodia Daily…they can still not flout the law,” he
said.
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