UN chief concerned about increasing tensions in Cambodia

[geovalin]

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday expressed concerns over increasing tensions between the ruling party and opposition in Cambodia, especially about an arrest warrant against opposition leader.

"The arrest warrant issued against opposition leader Sam Rainsy on 13 November and earlier incidents against opposition parliamentarians and leaders are worrisome developments," said a statement by the secretary-general's spokesman.

Ban urged the Cambodian People's Party and the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) to resume their cooperation and dialogue and encouraged all political players to refrain from violence, intimidation and harassment, it said.

A non-threatening environment of democratic dialogue is essential for political stability and a peaceful society, said the statement.

Rainsy, president of the opposition CNRP, has cancelled his return to Cambodia from South Korea after the Phnom Penh Municipal Court issued an arrest warrant against him over a conviction for defamation in 2011.

Political tensions have increased in recent months after the CNRP organized protests against Prime Minister Hun Sen during his visits to the United Nations in New York and France.

source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2015-11/18/c_134826698.htm

[geovalin]

CNRP mulls Rainsy’s next move

Wed, 18 November 2015

Meas Sokchea and Shaun Turton

Speculation continues over if and when Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy will return to Cambodia, where he now faces a two-year prison term, as grassroots opposition members yesterday expressed “disappointment” at their leader’s continued absence.

CNRP officials will meet today in Phnom Penh to discuss the way forward after the decision by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday to enforce a long-dormant 2011 defamation and incitement conviction for alleging, in 2008, that Foreign Minister Hor Namhong ran a Khmer Rouge prison.

Rainsy, who was on Monday stripped of his position as a lawmaker and his parliamentary immunity by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, had promised supporters at a weekend event in South Korea that he would return to Cambodia on Monday as scheduled.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national

[soalbundy]

Asian is coming on a treat, all these ''democracies'' Thailand, Cambodia, Myanmar,Vietnam, one can see why China supports it