‘Youth Party’ latest to target upcoming polls

‘Youth Party’ latest to target upcoming polls

Thu, 24 December 2015 ppp

Meas Sokchea

A new political party has entered the election race, becoming the seventh to launch since the 2013 poll.

The Cambodian Youth Party (CYP), which claims to have 3,000 members, will hold a press conference today to publicise its platform.

Speaking yesterday, CYP president Pich Sros, a former head of NGO the United Organization for Progress, said, if elected, CYP would introduce US-inspired legislative limits on a prime minister’s power, including a maximum term of two five-year mandates.

Taking a stab at Prime Minister Hun Sen’s vast assets, Sros also proposed a dedicated residence for the country’s top leader while in office, and a reduction in the number of the premier’s assigned bodyguards.

“In which country does a prime minister have houses and millions of [dollars] like this?”

To avoid graft, “we [would] limit the premier’s living arrangements like the United States. We have seen that United States has the White House; every president has stayed there”.

Sros, who has submitted registration papers to the Interior Ministry though his party is 1,000 members short of the 4,000 required by law, said the CYP would also make youth unemployment a priority and create a new National Election Committee.

A flurry of small parties have thrown their hats in the ring ahead of commune and national elections in 2017 and 2018, respectively, with some observers saying the ruling CPP may want to encourage new entrants to split the opposition CNRP’s vote.