Government
Kingdom a one-man show, report asserts
It’s a mistake to consider Cambodia a nation under authoritarian rule by a single party; it comes down to a single man – Prime Minister Hun Sen, a new paper argues. ...
Erin Handley
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/kingdom-one-man-show-report-asserts
Mining revenue rises on improved collection
The Ministry of Mines and Energy collected $20.3 million in non-tax revenue last year, a 20 percent increase over the previous year, it said yesterday. ...
Hor Kimsay
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/business/mining-revenue-rises-improved-collection
Probe launched into police chief accused of corruption
Investigators have arrived in Kompong Thom province to pursue allegations that the provincial police chief and two of his deputies routinely accepted bribes of up to $7,000 in exchange for jobs or promotions, officials said on Thursday. ...
Aun Pheap
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/probe-launched-into-police-chief-accused-of-corruption-125748/
Laos Dismisses Concerns Over Hydropower Project
High-ranking Laos officials said on Wednesday that the proposed Pak Beng hydropower dam will not have a major impact on downstream communities, claiming that they would take time to study its potential impacts. ...
Sun Narin
http://www.voacambodia.com/a/laos-dismisses-concerns-over-hydropower-project/3735377.html
Misbehaving foreigners banned
More than 3,500 foreigners committed immigration offenses last year and more than 800 were banned from returning to Cambodia, the Interior Ministry’s report for 2016 said yesterday. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35766/misbehaving-foreigners-banned/
EU talks ‘election climate’
The EU’s high representative for foreign affairs, Frederica Mogherini, yesterday released a letter outlining Europe’s continued concern with what it perceives as a deteriorating political situation in Cambodia. ...
Cristina Maza
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/eu-talks-election-climate
PM slams US take on Party Law
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday launched a not-so-thinly-veiled attack on the US over its recent public airing of concerns over the newly amended Law on Political Parties, arguing that its past bombing of Cambodia left it no moral high ground from which to criticise the ...
Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/pm-slams-us-take-party-law
Interior Ministry report boasts of crackdown on political protests
Besieged by color revolutionaries, agitators and criminal politicians, the Interior Ministry kept the country safe from encroaching instability—at least, that was the ministry’s boast on Wednesday at its annual meeting. ...
Khuon Narim
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/interior-ministry-report-boasts-of-crackdown-on-political-protests-125669/
Prison numbers jump 20 percent
Cambodia’s already swollen prison population leapt by more than 20 percent last year, according to the Ministry of Interior’s annual report, which acknowledged the influx has caused “serious challenges” with overcrowding, and revealed one-third of inmates are in pre-trial detention. ...
Mech Dara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/prison-numbers-jump-20-percent
Tax exemption offered to SMEs
A two-year income tax exemption is being offered to small and medium-sized enterprises that register with the Ministry of Economy and Finance before the end of 2018. ...
Chea Vannak
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35749/tax-exemption-offered-to-smes/
PM scorns suppression threat
Prime Minister Hun Sen has scorned a threat to suppress the CPP if the ruling party fails to accept the loss of power in national elections next year. Mr. Hun Sen warned anyone committing to the suppression plan before the election results are announced officially, saying ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35771/pm-scorns-suppression-threat/
Border row amid state visit by Laos
Lao President Bounnhang Vorachith is expected to arrive in Phnom Penh today for a state visit to the Kingdom. Meanwhile 600 kilometres away, Cambodian and Lao troops remain in a stand-off after a territorial dispute over a Cambodian-built road near the countries’ border. ...
Shaun Turton and Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/border-row-amid-state-visit-laos
Among world leaders, PM’s Facebook 2nd for engagement
Prime Minister Hun Sen’s time spent posting selfies and broadcasting speeches live on Facebook appears to be paying off, according to a new study that ranks world leaders’ Facebook pages by level of engagement. ...
Matt Surrusco
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/among-world-leaders-pms-facebook-2nd-for-engagement-125590/
Government payroll to grow
The government will recruit more than 12,000 civil servants and teachers and an additional 20,000 service contractors for 2017, according to an announcement by the Ministry of Public Function. ...
Touch Sokha
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/government-payroll-grow
Parties fail legality tests
An Interior Ministry report said yesterday that 45 political parties had registered with the government so far, but 12 did not fulfill the requirements stipulated by the ministry – which include submitting annual activity reports as well as financial documents – and were being sued ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35717/parties-fail-legality-tests/
Failures at assembly pile up
National Assembly effectiveness declined last year with prosecutions of opposition lawmakers, partisan passing of laws and many assembly members visiting constituents only to shore up their vote, an election watchdog claimed yesterday. ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35719/failures-at-assembly-pile-up/
Party-busting bill passed in ‘final blow’ to democracy
In what some are calling one of the most significant threats to democracy that Cambodia has faced in a generation, the CPP-controlled National Assembly on Monday voted to give the government and courts sweeping new powers over political parties. ...
Ben Sokhean and Zsombor Peter
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/party-busting-bill-passed-in-final-blow-to-democracy-125486/
Parties law rubber-stamped
The National Assembly (NA) has passed amendments to electoral laws which could be used to remove political parties. The controversial amendments were carried with the votes of 66 members from the ruling CPP after opposition CNRP members boycotted the session. The ammendments could affect the way ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35669/parties-law-rubber-stamped/
First lady: improve child healthcare
Cambodia’s first lady appealed to civil servants and health workers to improve efforts to reduce maternal and child deaths in conjunction with the National Day on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health today. ...
Mom Kunthear
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35662/first-lady--improve-child-healthcare/
Parties told to get ready for election
The National Election Committee (NEC) yesterday reminded political parties participating in the upcoming commune elections to expedite the registration of their party to ensure they met the March deadline. NEC spokesperson Hang Puthea said there will be 221,458 polling stations nationwide across the 1,646 communes ...
Pech Sotheary
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35667/parties-told-to-get-ready-for-election/
Cambodian parliament passes law that could destroy the opposition
Cambodia’s parliament today passed a controversial provision that severely curtails the power of the country’s opposition parties and effectively bans former opposition leader Sam Rainsy from returning to power. ...
Logan Connor
http://sea-globe.com/cambodian-parliament-passes-law-destroy-opposition/
VN, Cambodia state banks foster ties
Governor of the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV), Lê Minh Hưng, and Governor of the National Bank of Cambodia (NBC), Chea Chanto, have agreed to step up co-operation between the two banks. ...
Viet Nam News
http://vietnamnews.vn/economy/351435/vn-cambodia-state-banks-foster-ties.html#VSUuqSzs55vRy9a4.97
Opposition to boycott meeting
Members of the opposition CNRP have decided to boycott the National Assembly’s (NA) plenary session today, saying amendments to the law on political parties which are being debated today will lead to national disunity and run contrary to democratic principles. ...
May Titthara
http://www.khmertimeskh.com/news/35625/opposition-to-boycott-meeting/
Forces build up on Laos border over construction dispute
More than 400 Laotian soldiers have crossed into Cambodian territory to block military engineers from constructing a road, sparking an armed buildup in the border area over the past two weeks, Cambodian officials said on Sunday. ...
Khy Sovuthy
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/forces-build-up-on-laos-border-over-construction-dispute-125410/