Meet and greet: CPP congress scheduled for this weekend

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party will hold an extraordinary congress on Koh Pich island this weekend in order to plan and lay out a strategy ahead of the 2017 and 2018 elections, standing committee member Nay Pena said yesterday.

The congress will run from Friday to Sunday, he said.

“It is the normal [annual] extraordinary congress of the party. It will be a discussion to prepare for the upcoming elections and it is about time [for it],” he said.

Pena added that changes to the CPP’s current 34-member standing committee, which shrunk following the deaths of police chief Hok Lundy and veteran politician Chea Soth in 2008 and 2012, respectively, was not on the agenda.

According to a schedule obtained by the Post, the congress will “evaluate the weak and strong points of the party and aim to strengthen political views, [loyalty] and duties, [and] share opinions on electoral affairs”.

The congress will also see discussion and evaluation on issues such as the implementation of the party’s political platform and the government’s third rectangular strategy, the schedule says.