A special National Assembly task force endorsed a proposal this week for a new Constitutional amendment to reduce the number of parliamentarians required in attendance to hold a regular Assembly session, officials said Tuesday.
The amendment, which still requires the approval of the Assembly, will lower the Assembly’s quorum to 74, or six-tenths of the 123 parliamentarians, from its current 87, or seven-tenths of all lawmakers, according to Funcinpec lawmaker Monh Saphann, chairman of the Assembly’s Interior and Defense Commission.
Monh Saphann said that a seven-member task force delegated last week by the Assembly’s Permanent Committee agreed to reduce the quorum during a meeting Monday. Such a measure will ensure the Assembly has quorum for every scheduled session, he said.
“We changed the number of quorum from too high to a fairly low level because we want to keep the National Assembly functioning without any hindrance,” Monh Saphann said.
The current quorum has delayed several scheduled sessions over the past month because of absent Funcinpec and CPP lawmakers and a boycott by the Sam Rainsy Party’s 24 parliamentarians over the stripping of three opposition lawmakers’ immunity in February.
While the introduction of any future laws requires only a simple majority vote—or a vote of 50 percent plus one—matters dealing with Constitutional amendments, declarations of war or the appointment of Cabinet members will still require a two-thirds majority vote, Monh Saphann said.
Chan Ven, the Assembly’s deputy secretary-general, said the next Assembly session is scheduled for April 25. Lawmakers will be expected to approve the Constitutional amendment then.
Opposition party members on Tuesday issued a statement criticizing the proposed quorum change, saying their input on the matter was “blatantly ignored.”
The statement also questioned why such a change was necessary, considering the CPP and Funcinpec lawmakers should alone be able to meet the current quorum, despite the Sam Rainsy Party’s boycott.
Opposition lawmaker Son Chhay worried that the ruling parties are changing the Constitution too liberally.
“If we make arbitrary amendments, it is like the Constitution is corrupted,” he said Tuesday.