The Editor,

In the article "Rainsy: court, no talk and a couple of sacked VPs" (PPP,

Feb 23-Mar 7), it was reported that KNP president Sam Rainsy claimed "to be

talking on behalf of most of his steering committee" while former deputy Nguon

Soeur "called his expulsion illegal and claimed he still remained KNP vice president".

It was a pity that the author of the article did not bother to take a look at the

KNP statutes (or by-laws) before making his analysis and writing his comments. In

Cambodia, everybody claims to be willing to promote the rule of law and the notion

of Etat de droit. Therefore, concerning any legal issue related to KNP, let us refer

to the statutes of the party signed by the president on behalf of all the founding

members on November 2, 1995. A copy of these statutes is enclosed herewith. The following

provisions should be noted:

• Chapter 7, Article 41, point 5: "The Steering Committee can decide, by a

  majority vote, to dismiss, replace or add members of the Steering Committee if there

  is no opposition from the Party President."

• Chapter 2, Section 3, Article 18: "The Steering Committee shall be managed

  by a President and one to three Vice Presidents who shall be chosen from among its

  members (...)."

• Chapter 3, Article 36: "The Steering Committee may annul membership of the

  Party in the following cases (...) failure to respect the Statutes and Regulations

  of the Party, activity contrary to the interests of the Party (...)."

On February 12, 1996, Nguon Soeur was expelled from the Steering Committee by

a majority vote (23 out of 24) of the Steering Committee. On February 21, 1996, he

was expelled from the Party by a unanimous vote (24) of the Steering Committee. Therefore,

since his expulsion Nguon Soeur has no right whatsoever to speak or to do anything

on behalf of KNP.

On February 27, 1996, KNP President Sam Rainsy started a legal action at the Municipal

Court of Phnom Penh against Nguon Soeur who uses a forged KNP letterhead and continues

to refer to himself as a KNP vice-president. The UNTAC criminal law (which was used

by the Government to sentence Prince Norodom Sirivudh to ten years' imprisonment

on February 22, 1996) provides for one to five years' imprisonment and a fine of

one to ten million riels for the offense of forgery (articles 49 and 50).

Thank you very much for publishing the above clarification.

- Kong Korm, KNP Vice-President