Norodom Ranariddh and Sam Rainsy
The National Assembly is scheduled to meet Feb. 28 to vote and restore the immunity of Sam Rainsy and two other opposition lawmakers, said Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who heads the lower house of parliament.
Ranariddh and Sam Rainsy held talks Wednesday for the first time after the opposition leader's return from exile last week.
"I warmly welcomed him," Ranariddh told reporters. "I told him I hope he will be able to continue his role as an opposition lawmaker like before."
Sam Rainsy fled to France after lawmakers of Prime Minister Hun Sen's coalition voted to remove his immunity after the government had filed several defamation suits against the opposition leader.
In December, a court sentenced him in absentia to 18 months in jail for accusing Hun Sen of being behind a deadly 1997 grenade attack on a peaceful anti-government demonstration and for alleging that Ranariddh took a bribe to join Hun Sen's government.
He returned to Cambodia last Friday after having recanted his accusation against Hun Sen and being granted a royal pardon by the Cambodian king. He met for over three hours with Hun Sen on Sunday.
Sam Rainsy said his Wednesday session with Ranariddh was like a "great family meeting" that touched on many issues, including his latest proposal to allow new governments to be formed by a simple majority in parliament rather than the two-thirds voting formula now in place.
His proposal has been endorsed by Hun Sen, who said Tuesday that the constitutional amendment would prevent future deadlocks in forming a new government after an election.
After the last election, in which Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won a majority 73 seats in the 123-seat assembly, the country was left without a properly functioning government for almost a year as the parties haggled over forming a coalition.
A similar, but less protracted, situation ensued after the 1998 polls.
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