Funcinpec and the Sam Rainsy Party’s Alliance of Democrats announced it will not accept Prime Minister Hun Sen’s candidacy to be the next premier, as long as the CPP continues to press for a new two-party government.
The Alliance said, in a statement Thursday, the CPP’s push for two-parties violates a tentative agreement to form a tripartite government, the three parties made
Nov 5 in the presence of King Norodom Sihanouk. “[A]ny unilateral rebuff of the agreement…to form a three-party government categorically rejects the Alliance’s assurance to accept the candidacy of Mr Hun Sen for the prime ministership,” the statement said.
Under the Nov 5 agreement, the Alliance said it would accept Hun Sen as a premier candidate, though warned it could not ensure its parliamentarians would vote for him in the National Assembly.
The CPP, having won 73 of the 123 Assembly seats in the July election, is nine seats short of forming a government alone.
CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith on Thursday dismissed the Alliance’s latest statement.
“It is not a problem. We need only nine votes” in the Assembly to approve Hun Sen’s premiership, he said. He did not elaborate from whom the CPP would secure those votes.
Some 21 Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers signed a letter to Constitutional Council President Bin Chhin, demanding answers regarding the current government’s legitimacy. “How long can the caretaker government continue its work? Is it legitimate or not?” the letter asked.
It also asked if the newly elected lawmakers can make the government answer for its actions during the stalemate, and if the King could seek help from signatory countries of the Paris Peace Accord due to “the loss of the democratic process” in Cambodia.
Bin Chhin could not be reached for comment Thursday.
