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Foreign diplomats in Cambodia informed of removal of opposition leader from parliament post

Xinhua, October 30, 2015 Adjust font size:

Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong had a meeting with foreign diplomats to Cambodia Friday afternoon, informing them of the ouster of opposition deputy leader Kem Sokha of the National Assembly's first vice president.

All the 68 lawmakers from the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), including Prime Minister Hun Sen, voted to remove Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) deputy leader Sokha from his post in the National Assembly on Friday morning, as all the 55 CNRP lawmakers boycotted the session.

"His Excellency Kem Sokha had used his position as the first vice president of the National Assembly to slander and attack the royal government, and to incite people to oppose the royal government and the Cambodian People's Party, both inside and outside the country," Hor Namhong told the diplomats.

"Kem Sokha's actions are unsuitable for the position of the first vice president of the National Assembly and are against the Culture of Dialogue (forged by the two parties in August 2014)," he said.

Hor Namhong, who is also a deputy prime minister, said under the political agreement between the two parties in July last year, the CPP has given the position of the parliament's first vice president to the CNRP, so he hopes that the CNRP will propose a new candidate to replace Sokha as soon as possible.

He also informed the foreign diplomats of an act of violence, caused by a handful of people, on Monday outside the parliament building that left two CNRP lawmakers badly injured.

Prime Minister Hun Sen has condemned the attack and ordered the Ministry of Interior to launch an investigation into the case in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. Enditem