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Cambodian parliament debates NGO draft bill amid opposition boycott

Xinhua, July 13, 2015 Adjust font size:

The National Assembly of Cambodia held a plenary session on Monday to debate a controversial draft bill on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) despite a boycott of the opposition party.

All sixty-eight lawmakers from the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), including Prime Minister Hun Sen, were present at the session, as the 55 lawmakers from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) boycotted it.

Meanwhile, dozens of human rights and NGO activists protested against the bill outside the National Assembly, which was fortified by heavy security forces and metal barricades.

The opposition CNRP said in a statement on Sunday that its lawmakers' boycott was to urge the parliament to scrap the government-proposed draft bill, claiming that the bill would put pressure and impose restrictions on the freedoms of associations and NGOs.

According to the proposed law, associations and NGOs will be required to register their nationalities with the government in order to have legal standing and must file reports on their activities and finances each year to the government.

It also allows the government to delete the name of any association or NGO, which has conducted any action that jeopardizes peace, stability and public order, or harms national security, unification, culture, traditions and custom.

Currently, there are about 5,000 associations and NGOs operating in Cambodia, according to the government's figures. Endi