The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) must be responsible for the history of the nation if its talks with the ruling Cambodia People’s Party do not take place on schedule.

Chiem Riep, Chairman of the Economic Committee of the Cambodian Parliament and a senior CPP official, told reporters on March 13 that talks between the two sides are scheduled for March 17 and if there is a change, it is due to CNRP.

He also affirmed that CPP is always ready for negotiations.

Earlier, the opposition leader Sam Rainsy said CNRP will remove talks with CPP if the ruling party does not agree with its proposal on changing the National Election Committee (NEC).

According to CNRP, the NEC role must be defined in the Constitution and its members must be nominated by two-thirds of the 123 parliamentarians.

The two sides failed to reach a joint statement on electoral reforms during their talks on March 10.

A political row between the CPP and CNRP has persisted since the July 2013 polls. The election results showed that the CPP won 68 parliamentary seats against the 55 seats taken by the CNRP.

Claiming serious irregularities during the poll, the CNRP refused to accept the results and demanded the establishment of an independent committee to investigate the election outcome. It has boycotted parliament and held many protests demanding for a re-election, all rejected by the CPP.-VNA