Deputy opposition leader Kem Sokha yesterday told supporters in Kampot province that a CNRP victory in 2018 would entail long-awaited reforms in the Kingdom’s justice system, which he accused of enforcing double standards that failed the poor and powerless.

Making veiled reference to an alleged death threat made against him over Facebook by an Interior Ministry official in December 2013, Sokha said that his Cambodia National Rescue Party must win in 2018 if real reforms are to be enacted, putting an end to what has long been labelled a “culture of impunity” for the wealthy and well-connected.

“If we do not win, weak people will still suffer; there will still be injustice. When a group from the other powerful side . . . threatened the minority party, there was no one [taking legal action],” he said. “Even though they threatened to kill there was no one arrested.”

The death threat case finally reached Phnom Penh Municipal Court last October, but no further developments have been announced.

Government spokesman Phay Siphan, however, joked that Sokha’s call for unity in addressing judicial reform must mean he wanted the CNRP “to become a coalition government party”.

“We started to correct the justice system already,” he continued. “It is not necessary for him to win an election [for there to be reform].”