Ten of eleven political parties that registered to compete in the July 27 election have agreed that if elected, they would pass a long-awaited corruption law, the Coalition of Civil Society Organizations Against Corruption said Thursday.
The only party not to sign the declaration, which stated that the parties agreed to pass an anti-corruption law within six months of taking office, was Prime Minister Hun Sen’s ruling CPP, the CCSOAC said in its statement to the media.
The coalition said it sent a letter to CPP President Chea Sim asking whether his party would agree to the six-month commitment.
“The coalition has not received any response,” the statement added.
Contacted on Thursday, CPP lawmaker Cheam Yeap said that Chea Sim has been busy and that he would not be replying to the coalition’s letter. Nevertheless, if the CPP wins the election, the party will pass such a law, he said.
“The CPP will pass the law in the first year of the fourth mandate,” he said. “An anti-corruption law is a vital point for the CPP,” he added.
San Chey, executive director of the Khmer Institute for National Development, which is a member of the anti-corruption coalition, said her group is wary of the ruling party’s commitment toward passing an anti-corruption law.
Anti-graft campaigners have long lamented that a draft anti-corruption law has been meandering through the long halls of government for the past 15 years, and there is still no firm commitment from officials that it will be made legislation anytime soon.
