The opposition Grassroots Democracy Party will soon decide whether it will join the Candlelight Party or stand on its own in the 2023 national election after discussions of a potential merger stalled, leaders said.
A Supreme Court official said 118 former CNRP officials would regain their political rights Wednesday and do not need to file any paperwork to make official their return to politics.
Though a five-year political ban is set to end on Wednesday, former opposition officials will likely have little opportunity to make a difference in the upcoming election, the politicians as well as analysts say.
Cambodian activists and opposition politicians made a last-ditch effort to catch the attention of U.S. President Joe Biden before he arrived at the Asean Summit, hopeful that the U.S.’s self-image as a protector of democracy could help elevate their plight.
Fears of traffic chaos in Phnom Penh failed to materialize on Thursday as the city’s roads remained quiet and largely free of roadblocks despite earlier plans to divert private vehicles from arterial roads.
Defense lawyers demanded the judicial police identify where Facebook comments used as evidence were posted from, in order to show they were really made by defendants in an ongoing opposition mass trial.
A defense lawyer who was among 118 opposition officials banned from politics for five years is looking to join the Candlelight Party once the ban ends on November 16.
Prime Minister Hun Sen defended recent changes to the Constitutional process of choosing new prime ministers, pointing to the U.K.’s revolving-door leadership as an example of a system with less parliamentary oversight than Cambodia.
The Supreme Court decided to return the passport of a former Radio Free Asia journalist who has faced an espionage charge for five years, though a judge warned him to follow the courts’ every summons.
Candlelight Party councilors are being asked by ruling party commune officials to thumbprint petitions denouncing opposition leader Sam Rainsy for allegedly insulting the king.
VOD is an independent media outlet producing radio programs and disseminating information to the public via the Internet.
© 2019 VOD. All Rights Reserved.
