Despite loud protests from the Sam Rainsy Party and some Funcinpec lawmakers, the National Assembly on Tuesday approved a bill adding just one parliamentary seat to the Assembly for next year’s legislative election.
Co-Minister of Interior Sar Kheng said the new seat is necessary because Oddar Meanchey province, carved out of Siem Reap province after the 1998 national elections, currently has no representation in parliament.
“We need to expand the parliamentary seats from the current 122 to 123 for the third-term legislature,” he said.
Many opposition and Funcinpec lawmakers, however, said adding one seat is insufficient. They called for expanding the Assembly by at least eight seats.
According to population projections by the National Statistics Institute, there will be enough people in Cambodia by 2003 to justify 132 to 136 seats, Sar Kheng said. The National Election Committee’s population figures put the number at 130 to 138, while the Ministry of Interior’s numbers call for 130 to 136. But Sar Kheng said the government’s economic circumstances make it impossible to expand the legislature proportionately to the population.
Saying this was “breaking existing [election] laws,” seven Sam Rainsy Party lawmakers walked out—the second time in the last five days they have exited the Assembly in protest. Before the walkout, opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said the government was breaching the parliamentary election law by not further increasing the number of seats.
Son Chhay said the number of seats should have been adjusted to the projections for population growth. “There is population growth from year to year, so why do we keep the same number [of seats] and add only one?” he asked.
Son Chhay accused the measure of being politically motivated, saying, “The government doesn’t want to increase the number of seats because the current number enables the ruling party to easily grab a two-thirds majority in parliament.”
Despite the objections, approval was nearly unanimous—87 votes to 1—with the opposition lawmakers absent and Funcinpec lawmaker Keo Remy abstaining.
Keo Remy said he was disappointed that the government spent 70 million riel (about $17,950) to research seat allocation but in the end did not make a significant change.
Sam Rainsy Party lawmaker Sam Sundoeun, questioned Sar Kheng’s contention that the government doesn’t have enough money for more representatives.
If many officials weren’t corrupt, he charged, the government’s coffers would be full.
The opposition also complained that the seat allocation law was being rushed through the Assembly. By law, it must be passed one year before the election, which is scheduled for July 27, 2003.
With only 12 months before the election, opposition members charged the NEC won’t be reformed unless the election is moved back by at least a month. Sar Kheng rejected the idea.
