King Norodom Sihanouk flew to Beijing for a medical check-up Wednesday, leaving legislation to try former leaders of the Khmer Rouge regime unsigned.
National Assembly President Prince Norodom Ranariddh played down rumors that the King timed his trip to duck out of signing the long-awaited law, which observers say may antagonize China, the monarch’s long-time ally.
Prince Ranariddh said his father’s trip was strictly routine.
“The law is not ready, so he cannot sign it,” he told reporters at Pochentong airport. He said it makes no difference whether the law is promulgated by the King or Senate President Chea Sim, who is acting head of state in the King’s absence.
The legislation hit a fresh snag earlier this month when the Constitutional Council announced elements of the law violate the Cambodian Constitution and would have to be reviewed.
Prince Ranariddh said, if necessary, he is willing to call an extraordinary session of the Assembly, either to consider amending specific articles or to re-examine the entire law.
He said the proposed changes are minor, and he is confident the Cabinet can amend the legislation quickly.
“We leave it to the government to work it out,” he said. “I understand it’s no problem.”
The changes arise from references in the draft law to the 1956 penal code, which includes the death sentence. The Constitutional Council concluded those references are at odds with the Constitution, which does not permit capital punishment.
On Monday the council sent the law to the Council of Jurists with instructions to review the problematic articles.
If the law is changed, it must then be approved again by the Assembly and the Senate for approval, a process that could take some time, said Monh Saphan, chairman of the Assembly’s Legislative Commission.
The King is not due to return to Cambodia until April.
