Illness Sidelines CPP’s Sok An and Cheam Yeap

The ruling party unanimously passed a much-derided new Law on Political Parties yesterday, but two of its most senior lawmakers—Cheam Yeap and Sok An—were not present, both being treated for serious ailments, according to a National Assembly spokesman.

Mr. An, a deputy prime minister in charge of the Council of Ministers, has been ill and absent from public life for months, though officials have declined to offer details about his medical condition.

“He has been ill for a while and he goes back and forth from Cambodia to Singapore to get treatment,” said Assembly spokesman Leng Peng Long yesterday.

Mr. Yeap suffered a stroke last week and was being treated in Phnom Penh, he said. “He’s been in the [intensive care unit] at Calmette Hospital after having a stroke on the 17th,” Mr. Peng Long said. “His condition is getting better since he is now able to speak a few words.”

All 54 of the opposition CNRP’s lawmakers boycotted yesterday’s session, which was hastily arranged after Prime Minister Hun Sen suggested amendments that critics have deemed a “death knell for democracy.”

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