The opposition party is concerned that a constitutional amendment to lower the parliamentary

quorum will result in authoritarian-style rule by the Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

Previously, the National Assembly required at least 87 MPs to be in attendance to

give the session legitimacy, but this was lowered to 74 voting members on May 18.

Son Chhay, a Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) member, noted the 123-member National Assembly

is divided into 73 seats for CPP members, 26 for Funcinpec, and 24 for SRP.

With the recent amendment, the CPP now only needs one member of an additional party

to have a quorum.

"Any future law will be done without much consultation with Funcinpec. This

is going to create another crisis - we are moving to a country ruled by a man and

not by law," said Chhay.

The National Assembly has recently struggled to reach quorum, resulting in a backlog

of drafts laws waiting to be discussed or approved.