Hun Sen Asks UN Envoy to Help End Cambodia’s Political Crisis

Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has called on a U.N. special envoy to press the country’s opposition to rejoin parliament and negotiate an end to the country’s political stalemate since disputed July elections, an official said Wednesday. Hun Sen met with U.N. special envoy for human rights in Cambodia Surya Subedi for three hours on Wednesday, discussing topics ranging from rights issues to political reform, according to the Cambodian government human rights committee chairman Om Yientieng. … The prime minister stressed to Subedi, who arrived Sunday for a six-day fact-finding mission, that the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) legislators should lift a boycott of the National Assembly, or parliament, and end their dispute with their counterparts in the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) by working on issues of reform together, he said after the talks. … Subedi said that he had received “encouraging” signs during his meeting with Hun Sen that the prime minister “is serious about comprehensive reform … [which] will go a long way to satisfy some of the concerns I have received from the opposition party and other stakeholders in Cambodian society.” He said that while the government had been slow to act on his former recommendations, Hun Sen’s assurances Wednesday that electoral, judicial, parliamentary and land reforms will get underway before Subedi’s next visit in either May or June were “more concrete” this time around. … The meeting between Hun Sen and Subedi follows reports that CNRP President Sam Rainsy and his deputy, Kem Sokha, had written a letter to Hun Sen via a mediator seeking a “compromise for national reconciliation” and offering a list of demands that could result in their party’s return to parliament. … The Phnom Penh Post reported Tuesday that secret negotiations between the CPP and the CNRP had been ongoing since Jan. 5 and “are close to reaching a solution,” citing political analyst Kem Ley and Heang Rithy, president of the rights group Cambodian National Research Organization. Kem Sokha denied that the CNRP had sent any letters to the CPP, adding that his party maintained “the same stance as before in terms of talks.” He said that before any talks could be held, the government must release the 23 people who are being detained in connection with worker protests and investigate the deadly shooting incident during the strike earlier this month. … The Phnom Penh Post reported Tuesday that secret negotiations between the CPP and the CNRP had been ongoing since Jan. 5 and “are close to reaching a solution,” citing political analyst Kem Ley and Heang Rithy, president of the rights group Cambodian National Research Organization. …

Radio Free Asia News Staff
http://www.rfa.org/english/news/cambodia/intervention-01152014162154.html