Long-running talks between Cambodia's would-be coalition parties sputtered into action again yesterday after a two-week hiatus but failed to move any closer to resolving differences, party officials said.
Cambodia remains without a government 11 months after national elections despite a tentative March agreement between the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and royalist FUNCINPEC party to revive their coalition.
Prime Minister Hun Sen's CPP won the polls last July but failed to secure enough seats to govern alone, forcing it to find a coalition partner.
The tortuously slow negotiations made a breakthrough early this month when the parties finally agreed on a joint political platform, but since then have foundered on dividing government posts.
"The CPP's stance remains the same; [we want] a 60-40 split," CPP spokesman Khieu Kanharith told reporters, adding that the issue of controlling ministries was not discussed at the talks yesterday.
FUNCINPEC spokesman Kassie Neou said meanwhile that his party would not budge on its demand for half of all posts.
"The two parties remain very far from each other," he said.
The parties did agree yesterday to hold a "package vote" among MPs to elect Hun Sen back to his position and royalist chief Prince Norodom Ranariddh as national assembly president in one vote, as well as other procedural issues, Khieu Kanharith said.
Cambodia's national assembly has not met for more than a year, holding up important legislation including bills to allow a Khmer Rouge tribunal to begin and the kingdom to accede to the WTO.
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