CNRP President Sam Rainsy on Friday told supporters that the opposition party was responsible for recent government efforts to lower gasoline and electricity costs and said he would work to keep alive the new “culture of dialogue” with the CPP, despite Prime Minister Hun Sen calling it off earlier this week.
Appearing along with his deputy, Kem Sokha, at a public forum attended by hundreds of supporters in Tbong Khmum province’s Memot district, Mr. Rainsy told the crowd that the CNRP was working behind the scenes to push the government into action.
“Such as gas prices, it was over 5,000 riel per liter a few months ago, but lately it has dropped to under 4,000 riel per liter because the parties are sharing information with each other,” he said.
Mr. Rainsy also said that a recently announced government initiative to end the practice of landlords overcharging tenants for electricity—a reform aimed at migrant workers largely in Phnom Penh’s garment sector—was thanks to the opposition’s presence in parliament.
“The government now knows this and has begun to drop the price for electricity because the Cambodia National Rescue Party is in the background, reminding and urging them,” Mr. Rainsy said.
“If there was only one political party [in parliament], nobody would care to help reduce the oil and electricity prices for us,” he added.
The ministries of commerce and energy announced this week that amid plummeting global oil prices they would meet with gas companies every 10 days to ensure they avoid collusion and pass on savings to consumers.
Council of Ministers spokesman Phay Siphan dismissed Mr. Rainsy’s claims that the CNRP was driving government energy policy.
“What His Excellency Sam Rainsy said is just an advertisement, taking the opportunity for political gain for his party,” Mr. Siphan said.
“For the drop in prices of gas and electricity…the government has a clear plan in its five-year mandate on each energy issue,” he added.
Mr. Rainsy also used Friday’s forum to tell supporters that the presence of any additional parties on the political scene would only disrupt the nation’s progress.
“So there must be two big political parties because the small marginal political parties are just useless,” he said. “Only if there are two big political parties challenging each other will the people benefit.”
Funcinpec has grabbed headlines recently after the return of Prince Norodom Ranariddh to the royalist party’s presidency. The “Khmer for Khmer” advocacy group headed by Kem Ley, who says he hopes to foster the creation of numerous local parties before the 2017 commune elections, has also raised concerns among the CNRP.
And despite Mr. Hun Sen saying on Monday that the “culture of dialogue” was finished because the CNRP continued to verbally attack his government, Mr. Rainsy told his supporters that he would try to keep cross-party discourse alive.
“Although there have been problems from the beginning, I have tried to make it smooth, with a good environment for the sake of people’s happiness,” he said.
“Samdech Hun Sen and I, Sam Rainsy, initiated the culture of dialogue and I will not let it go.”
