Cambodian opposition chief says no pact with ruling party this Friday

English.news.cn   2014-04-10 19:54:18

PHNOM PENH, April 10 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia's main opposition party leader Sam Rainsy said Thursday that no agreement would be signed with the Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) on Friday.

"Up to this hour, the two parties have not totally agreed on the draft agreement, we've just achieved about 80 percent of the draft agreement," Sam Rainsy, president of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), told a press conference Thursday afternoon.

"We need to further negotiate," he said. "The sticking point is the date for a reelection."

His remarks came after local media reported that Sam Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen made a tentative plan on Wednesday to appear before King Norodom Sihamoni on Friday to sign a deal ending the CNRP's boycott of its 55 National Assembly seats.

Sam Rainsy said the two parties will probably hold a top-level meeting in the Royal Palace in the fourth week of this month when CNRP's Vice-President Kem Sokha returns from a mission in the United States.

He said for CNRP, any top-level decision or agreement requires a consensus from Kem Sokha.

Sam Rainsy said that on Friday, he would travel to meet party supporters in Kampong Speu Province in the morning and in Siem Reap Province in the afternoon.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Thursday that he held a telephone conversation with Sam Rainsy on Wednesday morning over the current political dispute.

He said the talk mainly focused on an electoral reform and a date for a general election.

"We verbally agreed to determine February 2018 for a general election, meaning that the election will be held in five months earlier than the planned July 2018," the premier said during a graduation ceremony for about 1,800 students at the Human Resources University.

However, CNRP's Vice-President Kem Sokha later disagreed with the agreement, according to Hun Sen.

"If the two parties cannot reach an agreement to end the current political dispute, Kem Sokha will be the only person to be blamed for the failure," the premier said.

During a parliamentary election in July last year, the Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling CPP won 68 seats against 55 seats for the CNRP.

Claiming irregularities during the poll, the CNRP has boycotted parliament since September last year to demand an electoral reform and an early election.

Editor: Fu Peng