BREAKING: Kem Sokha has been voted out of his position as Vice President of the National Assembly

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Sokha stripped of National Assembly vice presidency

Fri, 30 October 2015

Shaun Turton and Chhay Channyda

Cambodian People’s Party lawmakers have voted at parliament this morning to remove Cambodia National Rescue Party deputy leader Kem Sokha from his position as the National Assembly’s vice president.

The 68 CPP parliamentarians voted unopposed as CNRP lawmakers boycotted the session.

“According to the vote, I would like to announce that Kem Sokha has been removed as National Assembly Vice President during assembly session on October 30,” National Assembly president Heng Samrin announced following the vote.

The lawmakers say they were acting on a “citizens proposal”, namely a petition handed to the parliament by pro-CPP protesters on Monday during a protest which ended in two CNRP lawmakers, Nhay Chamroeun and Kong Saphea being savagely beaten as they tried to leave the assembly.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/sokha-stripped-national-assembly-vice-presidency

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Political truce shaken as opposition leader removed from National Assembly vice presidency

Published on October 30, 2015

Cambodia\'s National Assembly.

This morning, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha was removed as first vice president of Cambodia’s National Assembly in a vote passed unanimously by all 68 ruling party lawmakers following a walkout by CNRP lawmakers earlier this morning.

The removal comes four days after CPP-orchestrated protests in the capital calling for Kem Sokha to stand down outside the National Assembly left two CNRP MPs badly beaten, as well as protests against him by armed soldiers in northwestern Oddar Meanchey and Preah Vihear provinces. Two days after the protests, senior CPP lawmakers Pen Panha and Cheam Yeap officially requested for Kem Sokha to be removed.

Today’s vote, which was passed by all present CPP lawmakers, took place with almost half CNRP MPs out of the country.

source: http://www.licadho-cambodia.org/flashnews.php?perm=150&english

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Kem Sokha Sacked From Key Assembly Role

Khmer Times

Friday, 30 October 2015

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The government-dominated National Assembly today sacked key opposition figure Kem Sokha as deputy leader of the Assembly, accusing him of lying and inciting trouble in a series of speeches.

The vote, boycotted by opposition members, follows a bloody protest this week demanding Mr. Sokha’s ouster and during which two opposition lawmakers were so badly beaten they are now in Bangkok hospitals for treatment.

Mr. Sokha is also deputy leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). Tensions between the government and the opposition dramatically heightened after this week’s bloody protest just meters from the gates of the National Assembly.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has called for the full force of the law to be used against anyone who instigated the violence.

There was no immediate response from the government or the opposition. With the opposition boycott, the vote was passed unanimously by the 68 CPP Assembly members.

source: http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/17296/kem-sokha-sacked-from-key-assembly-role/

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Crisis deepens as Cambodian opposition leader loses parliament post

PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's ruling party ousted the opposition leader from his post of deputy parliament president on Friday after a controversial house vote that could nudge the Southeast Asian country closer to political conflict.

All 68 Cambodian People's Party (CPP) parliamentarians voted to remove Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) leader Kem Sokha for breaking the terms of a political deal in which the CNRP had agreed not to disparage the ruling party.

CNRP boycotted the vote, calling it unconstitutional. It followed a petition lodged by hundreds of CPP supporters, who held a rally on Monday calling for Kem Sokha's removal.

Two CNRP lawmakers were badly beaten by unknown attackers after the protest, an attack which Prime Minister Hun Sen condemned but said was not the work of his CPP supporters.

"Kem Sokha has always intended to destroy the deal and destroy the relationship between the two political parties," CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said.

The stripping of Kem Sokha's legislative post is the latest salvo by the long-ruling CPP that suggests its political deal with the increasingly popular CNRP for a "new culture of dialogue" has collapsed.

The agreement in July 2014 saw CNRP end a year-long house boycott in return for a series of concessions by CPP and some rare conciliatory talk by self-styled strongman Hun Sen.

Kem Sokha was appointed deputy National Assembly president as part of the deal.

The truce broke down in July when 11 CNRP members were jailed for insurrection for staging an illegal protest over a disputed 2013 election, in which CNRP's success stunned its rivals.

They were released on bail as part of the deal but a court jailed them not long after Hun Sen publicly urged judges to punish them harshly. He also warned that a CNRP election win in 2018 would create civil war.

Hun Sen has started to lash out after attempts by the CNRP to stir nationalist sentiment and bolster its claims that the premier had ceded land to erstwhile foe Vietnam.

CNRP parliamentarian Ou Chanrith said criticizing rival parties was part of the democratic process.

"The political situation is getting more tense and unstable. There have been of threats the country will return to war, beatings of MPs and this removal," he said.

(Editing by Martin Petty and Paul Tait)

- Reuters

source: http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/crisis-deepens-as-cambodi/2227780.html

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DW Cambodia opposition leader removed from parliament post

Cambodia's ruling party has ousted outspoken government critic and National Assembly Vice President Kem Sokha. The move follows violence against opposition members. Sokha's party called the vote "unacceptable."

Kem Sokha was dismissed from position 68-0 in an unscheduled vote on Thursday, despite the boycott by his 55 colleagues from the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Representatives of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) accuse Sokha of breaking a political deal where the CNRP consented not to disparage the governing faction.

"Kem Sokha was elected by an absolute majority of the lawmakers. He was removed in the same way. The door he entered is the door [through which] he leaves now," said Cambodian People's Party spokesman and lawmaker Sok Ehsan.

The opposition leader was not in the house at the time of the vote.

CNRP senators beaten

Relations between the two largest political forces deteriorated earlier this year when the opposition accused neighboring Vietnam of land encroachment.

The ruling CPP, led by Cambodian strongman Hun Sen, maintains good relations with Hanoi.

The ruling party voted against Sokha after hundreds of government supporters signed a petition for his removal. The pro-government protesters also gathered on Monday to call for Sokha to leave.

During the rally, unknown attackers severely beat two opposition members of parliament (MPs) as they were trying to leave parliament. The regime condemned the violence and denied that the it was the work of their supporters.

Sen calls for action

The CNRP party decried the Thursday vote as "unacceptable," saying it was breaking the law and democratic principles.

"The political situation is getting more tense and unstable. There have been of threats the country will return to war, beatings of MPs and this removal," said CNRP parliamentarian Ou Chanrith.

Recently, Prime Minister Hun Sen used his public appearances to urge action against government critics. Such speeches are usually followed by arrests.

Earlier this year, Sen spoke out against a CNRP senator Hong Sok Hour, who was subsequently arrested for posting allegedly fake border agreement with Vietnam on Facebook.

Hour now faces us to 17 years in prison.

Sen has also compared CNRP to Khmer Rouge and said that opposition victory would lead to civil war.

dj/kms (AP, Reuters, dpa)

source: http://www.dw.com/en/cambodia-opposition-leader-removed-from-parliament-post/a-18816338