CNRP ready to talk
The Phnom Penh Post: 27
September 2013
Following
a high-level meeting yesterday, Cambodia National Rescue Party leader Sam
Rainsy said that his party would seek to restart negotiations with the ruling
party and possibly join the government.
The
move marks an apparent about-turn from a party press conference held on
Wednesday when Rainsy threatened a general strike against the “illegitimate”
government and said the CNRP’s leverage would be strongest if it remained
outside parliament.
“I
just want to inform you that we would consider taking up seats in the National
Assembly after we hold negotiations with the CPP,” Rainsy told the Post
yesterday evening.
“In
those negotiations, we are going to ask for immediate reforms that require no
time and no money to implement.”
Rainsy
added that his party had drawn up a list of 10 demands, the first of which
remains an investigation to “assess and address” election irregularities.
Immediate
measures required by the opposition would include a halt of deforestation and
land grabs by private companies granted economic land concessions.
These
two issues were mentioned in the government’s five-year strategy released on
Wednesday.
Following
the approval of the cabinet in a single, unanimous vote at the National
Assembly on Tuesday, Prime Minister Hun Sen told reporters that the CPP – for
its part – still had “the door open for renegotiation” with the opposition.
The
CNRP has maintained that the swearing-in of the government without the 55
opposition lawmakers present amounted to a “constitutional coup”.
Rainsy
also said yesterday that the CNRP would ask for the establishment of a
mechanism that included the opposition, civil society representatives and local
community members to ensure any promised reforms are properly implemented.
Hun
Sen on Wednesday threatened to release recordings on Facebook proving the CNRP
had agreed to abandon its call for an investigation in return for top National
Assembly positions during negotiations last week.
Perhaps
in response to that, the CNRP president yesterday said that further
negotiations would have to be “transparent”, to prove to the public that the
party was not asking for government positions.
“We
want to present our ideas clearly, and we want to share [them]. There will be
no secret talks … and we would be happy if it would be broadcast nationally,”
Rainsy said. “If there are any positions, it’s just to ensure the
implementation of reforms. But most important are the reforms themselves.”
Political
analyst Kem Ley said the change in the CNRP’s approach was a good move by the
party, as it puts the people’s needs before politics.
“I
think it’s good if they start to negotiate for in-depth reforms.… They should
push the government to effectively manage immigration, land grabbing,
anti-corruption, the fight against nepotism and also building the standard of
public service,” he said.
Although
the CNRP have yet to publicly release its 10-point reform agenda, Ley said he
hoped it would target ineffective national mechanisms such as the
Anti-Corruption Commission, the Human Rights Council and the Constitutional
Council.
He
added that the investigation into irregularities should not be used to change
the election result but to reform the National Election Committee.
“They
must think of all the challenges that happened since the start of the election,
[not just the result],” he said.
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