Nat’l Assembly Reduces Votes Council Needs
By Yun Samean and John Maloy
THE CAMBODIA DAILY
The National Assembly voted Monday to reduce the number of votes required by the nine-member Constitutional Council to reach a decision.
The council, the country's supreme legal authority, now requires a simple majority decision and not the previous two-thirds of votes.
The Assembly also lowered the number of council members needed to form a quorum from seven to five. That means that only three council members are needed to vote on the constitutionality of laws or the legitimacy of election results.
CPP lawmakers Ek Sam Ol and Cheam Yeap said that it was constitutionally required for the council to comply with the 50-percent-plus-one voting formula adopted by the National Assembly earlier this year.
SRP lawmaker Son Chhay, however, said the amendments were an attempt by the CPP to further consolidate control over the council.
"To make [the Constitutional Council] only 50-percent-plus-one regarding decisions can lead to a lot of abuses of power," he said.
Chea Vannath, former president of the Center for Social Development, said the amendments made little difference as Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling CPP already has control of the council. "Even if we look at what the current situation is, there is no challenge [for the CPP] to get a two-thirds vote," she said.
Constitutional Council member Son Soubert also said that the amendments were unnecessary, and that two-thirds of the council is already made up of appointees from Hun Sen's CPP. There has also never been a problem reaching a quorum, he said, adding that the Assembly should concentrate on more essential legislation, such as an anti-corruption law.
"Don't [lawmakers] have something more important to work on and debate?" he asked.
The amendments also grant council members monthly pensions for life which, at their current salary of about $1,300 per month, will range from around $78 to $624 depending on the number of years spent on the body. The council president will receive a pension of around $97 to $780 per month, also depending on years of service.
The council, the country's supreme legal authority, now requires a simple majority decision and not the previous two-thirds of votes.
The Assembly also lowered the number of council members needed to form a quorum from seven to five. That means that only three council members are needed to vote on the constitutionality of laws or the legitimacy of election results.
CPP lawmakers Ek Sam Ol and Cheam Yeap said that it was constitutionally required for the council to comply with the 50-percent-plus-one voting formula adopted by the National Assembly earlier this year.
SRP lawmaker Son Chhay, however, said the amendments were an attempt by the CPP to further consolidate control over the council.
"To make [the Constitutional Council] only 50-percent-plus-one regarding decisions can lead to a lot of abuses of power," he said.
Chea Vannath, former president of the Center for Social Development, said the amendments made little difference as Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling CPP already has control of the council. "Even if we look at what the current situation is, there is no challenge [for the CPP] to get a two-thirds vote," she said.
Constitutional Council member Son Soubert also said that the amendments were unnecessary, and that two-thirds of the council is already made up of appointees from Hun Sen's CPP. There has also never been a problem reaching a quorum, he said, adding that the Assembly should concentrate on more essential legislation, such as an anti-corruption law.
"Don't [lawmakers] have something more important to work on and debate?" he asked.
The amendments also grant council members monthly pensions for life which, at their current salary of about $1,300 per month, will range from around $78 to $624 depending on the number of years spent on the body. The council president will receive a pension of around $97 to $780 per month, also depending on years of service.
2 comments:
"simple majority". Is there such a thing? They should return it to a 2/3 majority. Laws shouldn't be easily passed without a large majority...ala two thirds vote. If laws are passed with impunity, corruptions and power grab will only waste what is left of a so called fledgling democracy.
This is realy shit! we are talking about the constitution of the country in which must have a referendom for any chnage, not just being controled by those few idiot
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