Heng Samrin, a former Khmer Rouge military commander, has been elected as President of the National Assembly. (Photo Reuters)Cambodian parliament votes in new president
AFP
PHNOM PENH – Former Khmer Rouge military commander Heng Samrin, who later led defectors to overthrow the regime, was voted in Tuesday as president of Cambodia’s parliament following the abrupt resignation of its long-time royalist leader.
Heng Samrin led the Vietnamese-backed communist government after the overthrow of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge in 1979 and is a stalwart of the now ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
“I ... vow to work for democratic principles,“ he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP is accused of trying to oust its royalist coalition partner following the dismissal of two top royalist co-ministers and a number of lower-level bureaucrats.
The removal of co-Minister of Defense Nhiek Bun Chhay and co-Minister of Interior Prince Norodom Sirivudh canceled a system of shared government posts that the royalist Funcinpec party and the CPP had maintained since 1993.
Parliament also voted Tuesday to withdraw Prince Sirivudh as deputy prime minister.
Funcinpec has been in turmoil since its president Prince Norodom Ranariddh quit as head of parliament earlier this month.
Ranariddh’s departure followed parliament’s approval of a constitutional amendment changing the requirements for a parliamentary majority and handing control of the legislature over to the CPP.
“I think there will be some problems in Funcinpec but I hope nothing big happens,“ Nhiek Bun Chhay told reporters Tuesday.
Heng Samrin led the Vietnamese-backed communist government after the overthrow of the ultra-Maoist Khmer Rouge in 1979 and is a stalwart of the now ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
“I ... vow to work for democratic principles,“ he said.
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s CPP is accused of trying to oust its royalist coalition partner following the dismissal of two top royalist co-ministers and a number of lower-level bureaucrats.
The removal of co-Minister of Defense Nhiek Bun Chhay and co-Minister of Interior Prince Norodom Sirivudh canceled a system of shared government posts that the royalist Funcinpec party and the CPP had maintained since 1993.
Parliament also voted Tuesday to withdraw Prince Sirivudh as deputy prime minister.
Funcinpec has been in turmoil since its president Prince Norodom Ranariddh quit as head of parliament earlier this month.
Ranariddh’s departure followed parliament’s approval of a constitutional amendment changing the requirements for a parliamentary majority and handing control of the legislature over to the CPP.
“I think there will be some problems in Funcinpec but I hope nothing big happens,“ Nhiek Bun Chhay told reporters Tuesday.
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