The CPP-dominated National Assembly (NA) sacked key opposition figure Kem Sokha as deputy leader of the Assembly in a legally-disputed vote that was boycotted by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).
“According to the vote, I would like to announce that Kem Sokha has been removed as National Assembly vice president during the assembly session on October 30,” NA President Heng Samrin said following the vote this morning. All 68 CPP members voted in favor of the measure to remove Mr. Sokha.
The NA session was only supposed to involve votes on the upcoming commune election and internal NA rules, but early this morning, three CNRP members of the permanent committee fought the inclusion of the vote against Mr. Sokha to the agenda to no avail. The CPP holds the majority of seats on the permanent committee.
NA spokesman and CPP lawmaker Chheang Vun said the CPP was waiting for the CNRP to select a new vice president. He denied reports and statements from members of his own party that Mr. Sokha was removed because of the violent protests against him, instead claiming that they made the move because “it was necessary to protect the culture of dialogue and agreement.”
Despite Article 87 of the Constitution, which states that NA presidents or vice presidents can only be replaced in the event of a death or resignation, the CPP defended the legality of the move.
“Mr. Sokha was promoted by the CPP, so he can be removed by the CPP based on an absolute majority vote,” Mr. Vun said.
CNRP members and the party itself have released statements slamming the action, claiming it directly violates the Constitution and the political agreement between both parties.
“55 CNRP lawmakers could not join the NA session today which violated the Constitution and the political agreement between both parties,” the statement read.
CNRP lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang said the CNRP wanted to have a meeting with the CPP before they submitted a new candidate for vice president.
“If we don’t talk with each other clearly, it will be useless to promote a new candidate,” Mr. Chhay Eang said, adding that the CNRP’s members plan to wait for party president Sam Rainsy to return from Europe before they nominate anyone to replace Mr. Sokha. He said the party will continue to boycott the NA if the Constitution continues to be violated by the ruling party.
Foreign Minister Hor Namhong met with ambassadors from a number of countries, as well as the EU and UN, this afternoon to quell fears of another political stalemate similar to the one that ended in July of last year.
Mr. Sokha is also deputy leader of the CNRP. Tensions between the government and the opposition dramatically heightened this week when CPP-aligned groups held a protest against Mr. Sokha that turned violent. After protests against him in France last weekend, Prime Minister Hun Sen promoted the protest against Mr. Sokha a day before it occurred.
Two CNRP lawmakers were dragged out of their cars during the protest and beaten as they exited the NA during a lunch break. Both have been sent to a private hospital in Bangkok with multiple broken bones and other injuries.
Mr. Sokha himself said in a statement yesterday that he is afraid to return to the country after protesters threw rocks at his house for six hours during the protests against him while his wife stayed locked inside calling the police to no avail.
