Cambodia’s king brought Prime Minister Hun Sen face to face with the head of the opposition for the first time in years yesterday, urging the political rivals to find a peaceful solution to their post-election stalemate for the sake of national stability.
No agreement was reached at the brief meeting at the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh, but Hun Sen is expected to meet opposition leader Sam Rainsy again tomorrow for further talks, opposition officials said.
Sam Rainsy’s party says it would have won had the July vote been fair and has vowed to stage a new wave of protests today unless an independent committee investigates its claims of widespread voting irregularities. The government has rejected the demands, and there are fears the protests could trigger violence.
As the two looked on, King Norodom Sihamoni read a statement saying he was “begging the leaders of the two parties to cooperate” to overcome their political differences in the interest of “maintaining peace and stability” in Cambodia.
Sihamoni urged all elected lawmakers to attend the opening session of parliament, which he will preside over on Sept. 23. The opposition has vowed to boycott the legislative session unless the dispute is resolved.
Yesterday’s talks lasted about 20 minutes, and Hun Sen left without commenting. Asked by reporters what had come out of the meeting, Sam Rainsy replied simply: “No, no, there is nothing.”
Sam Rainsy’s party made major gains in the July vote, although the ruling party retained a majority of legislative seats. Official results ratified last weekend gave Hun Sen’s party 68 seats in the National Assembly and Sam Rainsy’s 55.
As the post-election standoff has dragged on, hopes had risen that Sihamoni could serve as a mediator, a role often played by his father. The late Norodom Sihanouk helped broker an end to civil war in 1991 and arrange power-sharing agreements after the 1993 and 2003 elections.
Sihamoni, who took over the throne in 2004, has so far taken a less active role. Hun Sen and Sam Rainsy both greeted Sihamoni at the capital’s airport on Wednesday upon his return from China, but did not acknowledge each other.
“The king is the only person right now who can get these two parties to meet and discuss all their differences,” opposition lawmaker Son Chhay said this week.
Cambodian Center for Human Rights president Ou Virak said that the discussions could have focused on allotting the opposition several parliamentary leadership positions, reforming the electoral commission and allowing Sam Rainsy to take a seat in parliament.
Just before the disputed vote, Sihamoni pardoned the then self-exiled Sam Rainsy at the request of Hun Sen — likely under international pressure to legitimize the poll. He returned to Cambodia before the election, but too late to register as a candidate himself.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
A documentary whose main subject, 25-year-old photojournalist Fatima Hassouna, was killed in an Israeli airstrike in Gaza weeks before it premiered at Cannes stunned viewers into silence at the festival on Thursday. As the cinema lights came back on, filmmaker Sepideh Farsi held up an image of the young Palestinian woman killed with younger siblings on April 16, and encouraged the audience to stand up and clap to pay tribute. “To kill a child, to kill a photographer is unacceptable,” Farsi said. “There are still children to save. It must be done fast,” the exiled Iranian filmmaker added. With Israel
Africa has established the continent’s first space agency to boost Earth observation and data sharing at a time when a more hostile global context is limiting the availability of climate and weather information. The African Space Agency opened its doors last month under the umbrella of the African Union and is headquartered in Cairo. The new organization, which is still being set up and hiring people in key positions, is to coordinate existing national space programs. It aims to improve the continent’s space infrastructure by launching satellites, setting up weather stations and making sure data can be shared across
RSS