The three winning political parties may support an informal meeting hosted by King Norodom Sihanouk, but such a summit wouldn’t take place for at least another two weeks, a top government spokesman said Thursday.
Khieu Kanharith, secretary of state for information and a spokesman for the CPP, said any such talks must wait until after election results are officially declared on Aug 29.
That is the date by which the Constitutional Council is to have ruled on all outstanding election-related complaints appealed from the National Election Committee.
And Khieu Kanharith said the monarch must first appoint someone to lead the next government, which isn’t expected to take place until the results are official. “The King appoints somebody from the winning party to form a government,” the spokesman said.
On Wednesday, King Sihanouk said he was prepared, if requested, to host informal talks between two or three parties at this royal residence in Siem Reap in order to avoid a constitutional crisis.
All three parties have said they welcome the idea, but Funcinpec and Sam Rainsy say that until the complaints are heard, they will not participate in the meeting or take part in any coalition negotiations with the CPP.
However, diplomatic sources said Thursday informal talks between Prince Ranariddh and Chea Sim, the low-key president of the CPP, may have already begun following a UN-hosted dinner that brought leaders of the three parties together last week.
The prince and Chea Sim, also president of the current parliament, played golf together Sunday before retiring for a two-hour private lunch, sources said.
Funcinpec officials confirmed the pair had played golf, but could not say whether politics or the composition of a possible coalition government had been discussed.
Speculation about another golf game, possibly this weekend between the prince, Chea Sim and Hun Sen, has been running rampant through the diplomatic community, but officials from neither party would say whether such plans existed.
Hun Sen said he envisioned a 60-40 power-sharing arrangement with Funcinpec but is insisting the CPP have control of five key ministries—interior, defense, finance, foreign affairs and justice.
Funcinpec is known to be interested in securing Chea Sim’s position as parliament president, but it is unclear whether the CPP considers this a negotiable post.
