Cambodia: Adjusted election laws take effect

Cambodian King Norodom Sihamoni (thesoutheastasiaweekly.com)

The four amendments to election laws include Amendments to the Law on the Election of the Members of Parliament, Amendments to the Law on the Election of the Senate, Amendments to the Law on the Election of Commune Councils, Amendments to the Law on the Election of the Capital, Provincial, Municipal and District Councils.

The changes allow the National Election Committee (NEC) to reallocate seats of parties who refuse their seats or are dissolved.

The Cambodian Constitutional Council announced on October 24 that it has approved four controversial amendments to election laws, which had been passed by the National Assembly and Senate on October 16 and 20, respectively.

In early October, the Cambodian Ministry of Interior asked the Supreme Court to disband the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), based on complaints from the Cambodian Youth Party (CYP) on October 4 and the FUNCIPEC Party on October 5 accusing the CNRP and its President Kem Sokha of treason.

The new laws will pave the way for the CNRP’s seats to be redistributed if the party is dissolved.

Cambodian media outlets have several times mentioned the possibility of the CNRP being dissolved. The 55 seats in the National Assembly will be given to FUNCIPEC (41 seats), League for Democracy Party (six seats), Khmer Anti-Poverty Party (five seats), Cambodian Nationality Party (two seats) and the Khmer Economic Development Party (one seat).-VNA