PM, Rainsy take deal to monarch

[geovalin]

PM, Rainsy take deal to monarch

Prime Minister Hun Sen and opposition leader Sam Rainsy met with King Norodom Sihamoni yesterday for about 90 minutes at the Royal Palace, emerging with royal approval of the political deal they hammered out on Tuesday.

“He congratulated us and he was very happy. He encouraged us to go out and complete the work we have done and do whatever remains to be done,” Rainsy told the Post.

The King was looked to at various times throughout the nearly one-year political stalemate as a possible mediating force between the two parties.

He was petitioned near the beginning of the dispute by the opposition and civil society groups hoping he would hold off on inaugurating the new National Assembly in September last year, with only lawmakers from the ruling party willing to take their seats.

But he opened the assembly and again congratulated the opening of its second session in April this year. In response, Rainsy wrote directly to him, saying that it was a “one-party” parliament – a move which led to threats of legal action by the government.

The threats were dropped after a senior palace official said that Rainsy had not insulted the monarch.

Last night, the King was televised receiving the leaders and making a brief statement:

“Today, the leaders of the two political parties brought the good result of the meeting about the political resolution of the nation to me,” he said.

After the palace visit yesterday, the two parties will now hunker down to flesh out the details of constitutional amendments required to enshrine the new National Election Committee and internal rules changes in parliament to formally recognise the opposition, according to officials.

Once that happens, the CNRP’s lawmakers-elect can take their oaths and be sworn in to parliament. Although Rainsy initially said the process would take only a few days and that the oaths could be taken today or on Monday, an official yesterday said that time frame would not be possible.

Meach Sovannara, head of CNRP’s information department, said that the parties need more time.

“It will probably take one or two more weeks until [we] join parliament, because both working groups are working on the procedure from the outside first. Then we will send [the text] to the permanent committee of both parties for approval, and finally Mr Hun Sen and Mr Sam Rainsy will both sign a joint agreement,” he said.

Only after all that will the 55 CNRP lawmakers-elect join the assembly, he said.

Despite not being allowed to run last year, Rainsy will be among them after his party yesterday scratched its list of Kampong Cham election candidates and handed a new list to the National Election Committee of who would take the 10 seats the CNRP won there.

Rainsy is now slated to replace Kuoy Bunroeun, the party’s number two candidate in the province, who will instead be appointed to the new NEC.

“I received a letter from the CNRP on Thursday, and the NEC will meet on Friday to examine the legal procedure regarding the parliamentary candidates in Kampong Cham province,” NEC secretary-general Tep Nytha said, adding that once the list is approved, it will be sent to the assembly.

“If he [Rainsy] is on the list, he will become an elected lawmaker,” Nytha added.

Separately, Kem Sokha’s lawyer confirmed yesterday that despite the political deal, the CNRP deputy leader was still expected in court today for questioning in relation to a party-led protest that turned violent last week.

“The court has not charged him yet. They have just summonsed him for questioning on behalf of the party leaders,” she said.

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY KEVIN PONNIAH AND VONG SOKHENG

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-rainsy-take-deal-monarch

[geovalin]

Deal making waves abroad

Fri, 25 July 2014

Laignee Barron, Charles Rollet and Kevin Ponniah

With the country’s longest post-election deadlock now over and the opposition parliamentarians ready to take their seats, at least some of the CNRP’s most lucrative supporters – those overseas – are struggling to swallow the new concessions.

“Join[ing] the CPP [in the National Assembly] is the same as a male spider mating with the black widow. The chance that he comes out alive is remote,” said Saunora Prom, secretary of Washington, DC-based Cambodian Americans for Human Rights and Democracy.

“The key question of our support is how the CNRP will guarantee the National Election Committee . . . will do its job: ensuring free and fair elections,” Saunora said. “I’m afraid that people will not support them any more for the next election – they did not fulfil their promises yet.”

The CNRP relies heavily on financial contributions from Khmer supporters abroad, especially from backers in the US and Europe, which donated over €150,000 last year.

“Approximately 50 to 70 per cent of the party’s budget is supplied by overseas donors,” said CNRP treasurer Ky Van Dara.

He declined to speculate on what the party would do if overseas financial support dried up but did admit that several concerned donors have called seeking clarification.

“The agreement made between parties was based on the demands of the people. I ask all donors to trust our leaders,” he said.

But internationally, observers found it hard to comprehend why the party that had come to symbolise democratic reform conceded to the bigger contender on the playground.

“The majority of Cambodians in the world are not satisfied with the decision of the CNRP,” said Moeung Sonn, a former board member of the Sam Rainsy Party who is in exile in France. “Everyone feels that the new reform only exchanges some personnel of the NEC members with committees, but they cannot solve the serious problems of Cambodia like that.”

Analysts argued that if the CNRP intends to weather through the new agreement until the next election, it will need to quickly regain supporters’ ears and pockets.

“In any party, unity is very important,” said Chea Vannath, an independent political analyst. “When parties start to have in-house fighting, it weakens the party and makes it vulnerable to outsiders’ interference.”

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/deal-making-waves-abroad

[geovalin]

Cambodian Opposition Leader Set to Join Parliament

Opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Sam Rainsy has applied to become a member of parliament following an agreement with Prime Minister Hun Sen to end the party’s boycott of the legislature in return for key electoral reforms, party officials said Thursday.

CNRP officials said the party’s lawmakers who were elected in the July 2013 elections but have boycotted parliament over poll irregularities would take their seats in the legislature once Sam Rainsy is given the green light by the National Election Committee (NEC) to be an MP.

Sam Rainsy was not allowed to stand in elections last year despite being given a royal pardon and allowed to return home from exile in France, where he had lived for four years to avoid a 12-year prison sentence he says was politically motivated.

The government-appointed NEC had refused to reinstate him in the electoral register.

Fifty-five CNRP lawmakers elected in last year’s poll will join parliament after the NEC approves Sam Rainsy’s application to take over the seat vacated by an elected CNRP MP, Kuoy Bunroeun, party officials said.

“We will do that after [CNRP] President Sam Rainsy becomes a member of parliament,” Kuoy Bunroeun told RFA’s Khmer Service.

“If the legal procedures at the NEC and at the National Assembly [parliament] can be accomplished quickly, the process of joining the National Assembly will be accomplished quickly too.”

“We have already sent the necessary paperwork to the NEC, and from what we know, they are examining it and will then call a meeting to discuss the issue,” said Kuoy Bunreoun, who the party has chosen to sit on the NEC, which is to be revamped under the deal between the CNRP and Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).

“Within seven days, the NEC will make a decision,” he said, adding that Sam Rainsy’s application would then be sent to the Permanent Standing Committee of the National Assembly for consideration and likely approval.

Impasse ends

Under the agreement, the NEC, which had long been accused of bias toward the ruling CPP, will comprise nine members—four from the CNRP, four from the CPP and one who will be unanimously chosen by the two parties.

The agreement broke a year-long political impasse following elections in which CPP was declared the victor by the NEC.

Several rounds of talks between the parties had failed, with the CNRP’s call for an overhaul of the NEC a major sticking point.

The agreement also requires that the National Assembly establish 10 commissions, with the ruling and opposition parties each chairing five.

The assembly speaker will be chosen from the CPP, while the vice-speaker will be from the CNRP and the second vice-speaker from the CPP, the agreement said, adding that the two parties have also pledged to reform the senate leadership.

CNRP vice president Kem Sokha has now been tagged by his party for the post of first vice-president of the National Assembly, Kuoy Bunroeun said.

On Thursday, CNRP and CPP leaders met with Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni to brief him on the agreement.

“The King gave us his blessings and wishes for success in our work,” Sam Rainsy said.

Reported by Yeang Socheametta for RFA’s Khmer Service. Translated by Sum Sok Ry. Written in English by Richard Finney.

http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/leader-07242014164325.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[EnzoRippo]

Hun Sen may be a dictator, when he goes to present a deal to the monarch of his country, he is accompanied by his challenger...