KEO Remy, a secretary of state at the Council of Ministers and deputy director of the council’s Press and Quick Reaction Unit, said yesterday that he had been appointed as a spokesman of the Kingdom’s new National Anticorruption Council, headed by Om Yentieng, a senior adviser to Prime Minister Hun Sen.

“Currently, the National Anticorruption Council is preparing a policy document plan and other documents and we will make all our work activities public soon,” he said.

Keo Remy, a veteran of the political scene, first joined Funcinpec in the 1990s and served as a parliamentarian following the 1998 elections. He defected to the Sam Rainsy Party prior to the 2003 national elections and then to the Human Rights Party prior to the 2008 poll. After failing to win a seat with the HRP, he again defected to the Cambodian People’s Party and was given a post at the Council of Ministers.

Chan Soveth, chief investigator of local rights group Adhoc, said it was good that the council had appointed a spokesman, but that he would wait and see how effective the body was in practice.

“We are awaiting their action and their willingness… and how many [graft] suspects the council has recorded, and how they plan to take measures against them,” he said.