National Assembly Approves Cabinet Shifts

Chun Sakada, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
05 September 2007

The National Assembly Wednesday approved four high-ranking government replacements for those who had died, retired or become too sick to hold their posts.

In a vote of 107-to-1, the lawmakers approved the replacement of a deputy prime minister, a senior minister, a cabinet minister and two secretaries of state.

The lawmakers approved Bin Chhin as deputy prime minister; former tourism minister Veng Sereyvuth as Minister of Culture and Arts; Chan Sotheavy as secretary of state for the Ministry of Justice; and Sisowath Theso as secretary of state for Ministry of Tourism.

Prime Minister Hun said the replacements would help smooth the government's work.

Bin Chhin installed as the 7th deputy-PM in recognition for his past talent in trampling the constitution to the CPP's advantage

September 05, 2007
Cambodian National Assembly approves new members of cabinet

Cambodian National Assembly approved the appointments of some new members of the cabinet on Wednesday, according to a statement of the National Assembly.

One hundred and seven members of the parliament voted to approve the appointments in the present of 108 of all 123 MPs, said Heng Samrin, president of the Cambodian National Assembly, the statement said.

Bin Chhin, the ex-president of the Constitutional Council of Cambodia from the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), was appointed as Deputy Prime Minister, becoming the seventh deputy prime minister of Cambodia, it added.

Meanwhile, Veng Sirivuth, former tourism minister from the Funcinpec party, was appointed as Minister of Culture and Fine Arts instead of Sisowath Panara Sirivuth who has struggled against illness for a long time, the statement said.

Prince Sisowath Tesso from Funcinpec party was appointed as the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Tourism instead of Princess Norodom Ratana Tevy who has delivered a baby, it said.

In addition, Chan Sotheavy from CPP was appointed as Secretary of State of the Ministry of Justice instead of Ie Dorn who has died, it added.

Source: Xinhua

Ek Sam Ol elected to the Constitutional Council

Friday, June 1, 2007
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

On Thursday morning, the National Assembly (NA) voted to approve Prey Veng MP Ek Sam Ol to become the next member of the Constitutional Council, replacing the outgoing Bin Chhin who will complete his 9-year mandate at the Council on 30 June 2007. The NA organized a secret vote with a quorum of 100 MPs. Ek Sam Ol received 98 approval votes, 1 disapproval, and 1 vote was voided. Ek Sam Ol is a CPP MP, he was the only candidate to the Constitutional Council.

Hor Nam Hong and Bin Chhin promoted within CPP rank for being subserviant to the party line in Foreign Affairs and the law

Brunei's Foreign Minister Prince Mohamed Bolkiah (L) talks with Cambodia's Foreign Minister Hor Namhong at a lunch after the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Ministerial Meeting Retreat at a hotel in Siem Reap province, 230 km (143 miles) northwest of Phnom Penh March 2, 2007. REUTERS/Chor Sokunthea

CPP Bin Chhin

March 05, 2007
2 CPP seniors promoted to be permanent members of central committee

The Cambodian People's Party (CPP) has promoted two seniors to be permanent members of its central steering committee, local media said on Sunday.

Hor Nam Hong, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Bin Chhin, member of the Supreme Council of Constitution, received the titles at the general assembly of the 33rd central steering committee of CPP held here on Saturday, according to Cambodian daily newspaper Rasmei Kampuchea.

CPP didn't give reasons for the promotion.

Currently, CPP's central steering committee has 268 members, including 30 permanent ones.

Meanwhile, Party President Chea Sim said at the assembly that all CPP members who have joined the ongoing commune councils election must work hard for the people and the country and should follow the rules, the legal procedures and the instruction from the National Election Committee (NEC).

CPP is proud to participate in the construction and development of Cambodia and will better cooperate with the co-ruling Funcinpec Party for the benefits of the kingdom, he added.

Chea Sim now serves as Senate President, CPP Honorary President Heng Samrin as President of the National Assembly, and CPP Vice President Hun Sen as Prime Minister of the Cambodian government.

CPP now has about five million members in all, accounting for one third of the country's population.

Source: Xinhua

Hun Sen admits: Land-grabbers and power abusers are CPP officials

March 4th 2007
Cambodia Premier Warns Politicos Against Land Grabbing

DPA

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen criticized his party members for land grabbing during an internal meeting of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), according to a statement received Sunday.

The statement and sources close to the ruling party said Hun Sen had warned the senior CPP members to desist from land grabbing and other abuses of power.

He also removed the former governor of north-eastern Ratanakiri province, Kham Khoeun, from the party's central committee. Khoeun was recently sentenced in absentia to 17 years in prison by a Cambodian court for his conviction of involvement in a 2004 illegal logging scandal in a protected area of the province.

Foreign Minister Hor Namhong, a former Khmer Rouge cadre member who defected to Vietnam and returned as a member of the nucleus that overthrew that regime in 1979, was promoted to become a party Permanent Committee member at the same meeting, the statement said, as was Constitutional Council president Bin Chhin.

Chhin led a recent delegation to neighbouring Vietnam aimed at building Cambodian government expertise in clarifying legal documents such as land titles, solving election disputes and fighting government corruption.

The 30-member Permanent Committee is pivotal in formulating party policy.

CPP sources said Hun Sen has grown increasingly impatient with party members who abuse their positions to take land from poor rural villagers and that at least one senior military official has already been forced to give land back to the government.

Donors, rights workers and political analysts have warned that if the problem is not solved, it could disenfranchise CPP supporters in the party's heartland rural areas and eventually lead to political instability. Donors have threatened to withold funds to the aid-dependent nation if endemic corruption is not curbed through legislation.

The Central Committee meeting, held Saturday, came less than a month before vital national commune elections scheduled for April 1.