After months of inaction and false starts, Minister of Cabinet Sok An may meet the National Assembly’s legislative commission today for discussion that would push the draft law for a Khmer Rouge trial one step closer to parliamentary debate.
“Maybe [Tuesday],” Sok An said Monday after addressing the opening session of a three-day Poverty Reduction Strategy workshop at the Sunway Hotel.
Monh Saphan, chairman of the legislative commission, said he heard the meeting might be today, but was still awaiting clear confirmation from Sok An.
After a recent visit, US Senator John Kerry left Cambodia with guarantees from Prime Minister Hun Sen and other government officials that the draft law for a Khmer Rouge trial could be passed by the National Assembly by mid-December.
Since Kerry brokered a trial agreement between the UN and the government earlier this year, the US has pushed for a quick resolution to the law debates.
But the draft has been stuck in the commission, which has discussed less than a quarter of the draft’s articles and is waiting for a briefing from the government before moving forward.
Sok An said Nov 20 he would meet soon with the legislative commission to brief them on changes to the original wording of the law discussed in private meetings between himself and UN Undersecretary-General Hans Corell in mid-July.
Sok An has met with the commission only once since July, citing other government business, including a heavy workload for flood relief. After Kerry’s visit, he promised to meet the commission soon after he returned from last weekend’s Asean Informal Summit in Singapore.
