Dissident politicians risk losing their seats in parliament if they
refuse to attend the NA’s swearing in ceremony next month, govt warns
Heng Chivoan
Sam Rainsy protests the deletion of voters’ names from the election registration rolls.
Politicians have warned that a threatened
boycott by opposition lawmakers of the swearing-in of Cambodia’s new
National Assembly could deadlock the government, as ruling party
officials insisted that dissidents risked losing their parliamentary
seats if they failed to show up at next month’s ceremony.
“A
boycott will cause political deadlock regarding the formation of the
new National Assembly,” said Monh Saphan, a parliamentarian with
Funcinpec, the former coalition government partner of the ruling
Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
But others, including the
Norodom Ranariddh Party (NRP), headed by one-time Funcinpec president
Prince Norodom Ranariddh, said a boycott was the most effective way to
protest alleged vote-rigging in the July 27 general election.
“We
will use our one voice to boycott the ceremony,” said NRP spokesman
Muth Chantha on Monday. “We are all sitting in one boat and will row it
together.”
Minister of Information and CPP spokesman Khieu
Kanharith said any parliamentarian not at the September 24 swearing in
would be stripped of his or her seat. The vacant seats would be divided
among the parties that did attend, he said, adding that “the CPP stands
to gain 15 more seats.
The constitution requires that at least 120 of the Assembly’s 123 seats are filled for the first session.
SRP lawmaker Yim Sovann said the opposition was collecting evidence of vote fraud to take to election officials.
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