Acting Chairman of the Cambodia National Rescue Party Kem Sokha (Source: EPA/VNA) Hanoi (VNA) – Members of Parliament (MPs) from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) attended the plenary session of the National Assembly on November 22, ending the six-month boycott against the legislature.
The session saw the participation of 39 CNRP MPs and 67 MPs of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), including Prime Minister Samdech Hun Sen, who discussed and passed the draft budget for 2017 and the Paris Agreement on climate change.
CNRP MPs did not participate in plenary sessions of the NA since May to oppose the trial of the CNRP’s acting Chairman Kem Sokha.
On September 9, the Phnom Penh court sentenced Kem Sokha five months in jail for refusing to appear at the court in a trial relating to a sex scandal with a hairdresser.
Kem Sokha is hiding at the headquarters of the CNRP to avoid being arrested.
The Phnom Penh court issued several summons orders but Kem Sokha snubbed all.
Cambodian authorities said they would not arrest Kem Sokha until the appealing process ends.
The Cambodian NA includes 123 seats with the CPP occupying 68 seats and CNRP holding 55 seats.-VNA
