Cambodian opposition chief again calls for talks over political row

 

Photo/CEN

PHNOM PENH (Xinhua) -- Sam Rainsy, president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), on Thursday renewed his call for negotiations with the Prime Minister Hun Sen' s ruling party to end a nine-month post-election dispute.

"Only talks between the two parties will lead to the end of the current political dispute," he said at a news conference. " The CNRP wants to find a peaceful solution to the dispute and to ensure that the next elections will be free and fair."

Deputy Prime Minister and Interior Minister Sar Kheng said the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) still opened the door for talks with the CNRP.

"The CPP's stance is still the same and the door is still open for peaceful negotiations with the CNRP," he told reporters last week.

Cambodia remains trapped in political row after the election results in July last year showed that Hun Sen's CPP won 68 parliamentary seats and Sam Rainsy's CNRP got the remaining 55 seats.

The CNRP has refused to accept the election outcome it says was marred by fraud, and it has boycotted parliament and staged numerous protests to demand an electoral reform and an early election.

Hun Sen and Sam Rainsy had met three times in a bid to resolve the dispute, but their talks produced no fruitful results. Their last talk was made on telephone early last month.