Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Monday that the CNRP’s parliamentary delegation had officially nominated him to become the new “minority leader” of the National Assembly.
Mr. Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 28 agreed to create the new position, which officially confers a rank equal to the prime minister, as part of a new “culture of dialogue” between the government and the opposition parties.
Mr. Rainsy on Sunday returned from a two-week trip to Europe but said that CNRP Vice President Kem Sokha, who returned from the same trip on Thursday, sent a letter of nomination to National Assembly President Heng Samrin late last week.
“The acting [CNRP] president, Kem Sokha, completed the procedure. It is now in the hands of the president of the National Assembly,” Mr. Rainsy said.
“We had a holiday on January 7 and then there was last weekend. I think everything will be made official in the next few days.”
The CNRP holds 55 parliamentary seats to the CPP’s 68, making it the largest non-government party in the assembly since the restoration of democracy in 1993.
