The Sam Rainsy Party will hold its 5th national party congress next month in Phnom Penh, party officials said yesterday. Among the activities to take place during the congress will be a vote for a new party president, though Sam Rainsy is the only candidate listed for the position.
SRP acting president Kong Korm said the one-day congress will be held Sept 11.
“We will also use the congress to select the party president, and president Sam Rainsy will stand for the position,” Mr Korm said. The party holds a national congress every three years to elect a president.
Mr Korm has been serving as acting president of the opposition party since the self-exiled Mr Rainsy fled to France in 2009 after being sued by the ruling Cambodian People’s Party and stripped of his parliamentary immunity.
Mr Rainsy is the only candidate who will be listed for the position, he added.
“It is the political platform of the party to select the president to stand for three years,” he said. “There is only Mr Rainsy standing for this position, and members of the party will select him.”
SRP spokesman Yim Sovann said that the congress would be an occasion to strengthen ties among the 3,000 expected attendees. Attendees are drawn from the commune and district levels.
Election issues will also play a key role at this congress, said Mr Sovann.
“The congress will [focus] on how to register voters and prepare the strategy for the election,” he said. Senate elections are to be held in January, commune elections are scheduled for June and the national election is forthcoming in 2013.
Mr Sovann also said the congress would be held at the SRP’s former headquarters in Chamkarmon district’s Tonle Bassac commune.
The party’s current headquarters on the outskirts of the city, which were occupied last month, are too small to accommodate all the members expected to attend, he added.
