The Interior Ministry has invited representatives of the Khmer People Power Movement (KPPM), a group Prime Minister Hun Sen has branded a terrorist organization bent on his violent overthrow, to answer questions today about its hopes of forming a political party.
The ministry received the KPPM’s application to form the Khmer People Power Party on Monday from the movement’s self-exiled president, Sourn Serey Ratha, who is currently being tried in absentia on charges of plotting an attack against the state and obstructing elections, both of which he denies.
“The invitation is so that we can review the application together and so that they can listen to some recommendations on how to form a political party,” said Duch Son, director general of the ministry’s personnel department.
“Some parts of the application are incomplete and, for example, the party’s motto is incorrectly spelled.”
On its website, the KPPM says it will send representatives to the meeting. And despite the government’s opinion of the movement, Mr. Son said the representatives would not be arrested.
Three other men who were arrested for allegedly being members of his group are also on trial with Mr. Serey Ratha in the Phnom Penh Municipal Court.
