Ball’s in their court: CPP
Minister
of Interior and Deputy Prime Minister Sar Kheng said yesterday that the
ruling party was waiting for the opposition to contact them regarding
negotiations to break the ongoing political deadlock.
That move might come in the next few days.
CNRP
president Sam Rainsy yesterday said his party would “definitely” be
contacting the CPP, whether through an official letter, a direct call to
Kheng or both, in the “next few days”, meaning top leaders could be
sitting face-to-face within a week for the first time since September
16.
Rainsy said that his party – currently boycotting the National
Assembly in protest of widely alleged election irregularities – would
push towards further negotiations in the coming week if the ruling party
considered its demands.
“We want to clear the way for
negotiations this week. We will issue a statement [today] to clarify and
specify our position. We definitely want dialogue to resume,” he said.
Speaking to the Post
yesterday, Kheng said that because it was the Cambodia National Rescue
Party protesting the election results, it was up to it to make the first
move in reopening negotiations.
Senior Cambodian People’s
Party lawmaker Cheam Yeap said on Sunday that negotiations could not
continue until opposition lawmakers took their oaths to the King at the
Royal Palace.
However, he appeared to have softened his stance by Monday, and Kheng did not mention such a precondition yesterday.
Rainsy emphasised that negotiations should be an entirely separate issue to the CNRP’s boycott of the National Assembly.
“We
don’t want such a precondition, precisely because we think that our
leverage is strongest while we are outside the National Assembly,” he
said.
Regarding the specifics of talks, Rainsy said the CNRP would
request for talks to occur outside the parliament with national and
international observers present in order to guarantee transparency.
Following
the last negotiations, Prime Minister Hun Sen threatened to release
recordings proving that the CNRP had agreed to abandon its call for an
investigation in return for top parliamentary positions.
The CNRP would present three key requests to the CPP prior to talks, Rainsy said.
These
would be an independent investigation into election irregularities;
electoral reforms based on the recommendations of the UN rights
rapporteur, the European Union and NGOs; and the replacement of all nine
National Election Committee members, he continued.
“We want to
find a mechanism that can solve issues related to the irregularities of
the past election and issues related to reform for the upcoming
election,” he said. “The nine [members] of the NEC cannot be in their
office anymore. Let them resign as a symbol and find new [members] to
replace them in order to avoid an obstacle to reform.”
Despite not
being able to reject the CNRP’s requests outright before the next round
of talks, Kheng said he had his “reasons” to possibly deny them,
without giving details.
“It depends on talks. I have not yet denied [their requests].”
Any NEC reform, Kheng said, would have to be based in the existing mechanisms of the National Assembly, which created the NEC.
He
added that electoral reforms according to UN recommendations were
likely impossible, focusing instead on a planned government forum on
electoral reform that will be held at the end of the year.
On
Sunday, Rainsy said his party could not accept electoral reforms within
the framework of the CPP-dominated National Assembly as it would simply
produce “the same results”.
Yesterday, he added that if “the
goals, the framework and the mechanism” of negotiations were not agreed
on, the CNRP would not come to the table.
“We won’t join as long as it is not a real dialogue leading to our objective.”
Political
analyst Sok Touch said yesterday that although most of the opposition’s
demands could be acceptable to the CPP, an independent electoral
investigation would be far more difficult to achieve.
“If [the
CNRP] asked for other reforms, in the courts, on corruption, or the
balance of power in the parliament, that might be easier. But [they
should] not ask for what seems impossible.
“If [we] return to the
[investigation], the culprits are everybody. The first is the NEC, the
second is the Constitutional Council, the third is the CPP, and the
fourth is the King.”
1 comment:
peaceful solution and demonstration will not work for HUN SEN
Post a Comment