Constitution
Here are some articles of the the constitution regarding the formation of a new government.
- Article 76 stipulated, "Assembly consists at least 120 members".
Article 78-
The legislative term of the Assembly shall be 5 years and terminates on the day when the new assembly convenes.
- The assembly shall not be dissolved before the end of its term except when the Royal government is twice deposed within a period of twelve months. In this case, following a proposal from the Prime Minister and the approval of t he Assembly President, the King shall dissolve the Assembly.
- The election of a new assembly shall be held no later than 60 days from the date of dissolution. During this period, the Royal government shall only be empowered to conduct routine business.
Article 82-
- The assembly shall hold its first session no later than sixty days after the election upon notice by the King.
Before taking office, the assembly shall decide on the validity of each member's mandate and vote separately to choose a President, Vice- Presidents and members of each Commission by a 2/3 majority vote
All assembly members must take the oath before taking office according to the text contained in Annex 5.
Death lock
On one hand, the current emerged winner - the Cambodia People's Party who won a land slide victory in the 27th July 2008 election, would not able to form a government on a particular set date - is said to schedule for 26th September, should the dead lock is remaining at its current.
On the other hand, the Sam Rainsy Party - the main "Opposition Party" who managed to pick another 2 seats [26 seats in total] has protested the election result and joined hand in hand with other minority parties - Human Rights Party, Funcipec and Nodom Rannariddh Party, with clear intention that they will boycott the swearing in ceremony.
Accordance with Article 76 of the constitution stipulated that "Assembly consists at least 120 members". Clearly, the winning party - Cambodia People's Party does not have the required numbers.
Article 82 stipulated that "The assembly shall hold its first session no later than sixty days after the election upon notice by the King". So the said scheduled date of 26th September 2008 for the 1st session/swearing in ceremony would not be realized should the death-lock remain.
Voice of Unity and Solidarity
Just day after the election, all 4 minority parties - SRP, HRP, Funcipec and RNP [Four parties united in rejecting election results * Four Main Parties Reject 'Sham' Election * Four Major Political Parties Reject Election Results - posted by KI-Media] joined hand in hand and declared its unity and solidarity “We are uniting with the people to struggle for a re-election nationwide”, which was similar to the previous voice of unity and solidarity as seen during the post election of 1998 and 2003 between the then President of Funcipec - Prince Norodom and Mr. Sam Rainsy except this time around there are two extra voices represented [Prince Nordom Ranariddh is President of NRP and the newcomer HRP].
Cambodia nationwide have twice in the past witnessed the start of the formation of Unity and heard enough of the voice of solidarity, particular those followers and supporters of Funcipec and SRP, and they surely also witnessed how the formation and voice were short live.
For curiosity! Just wondering how long this voice of unity and solidarity would last?
Is it possible that 4 political party mentioned early on can eventually unite and have their dream realized - merging as a strong force and a prominent opposition party to contest in 2013 election.
Issues over the death lock
There are many issues concerned and caused the death-lock.
It was ranging from intimidation, vote buying, illegal and fraudulent practices, which was including the deletion of “countless” eligible voters’ names, to an artificial increase in CPP votes due to distribution of fake voter ID forms which was claimed by the Opposition that would pave way for “ghost voters” to take part, the legitimate and validity of the 1018 form, which were issued on the election day. On top of all these the opposition was accusing NEC for manipulating and helping the CPP to rig the election.
International and local observers' points of views and statements
The leader of the EU observers, Martin Callanan
The poll was marred by the CPP's domination of media coverage and the improper deletion of people from registration lists so they could not vote.
The campaign was generally conducted in a more peaceful and open environment compared to previous elections, but it had fallen short of a number of key international standards for democratic elections
Found evidence that the 1018 voter ID forms were being illegally distributed by CPP-aligned village chiefs to voters, despite the fact that their ID cards showed they had different identities, effectively allowing voters to either vote twice or ineligible voters to take part
50,000 voters were left off rolls and that would not have greatly affected the election since early results show a large majority for the CPP.
On the basis of the provisional results published so far, CPP very clearly has a large majority and therefore any irregularities would have to be of a very large scale to invalidate the result
While it is fair to say we have some evidence of irregularities these are not of such significant scale
“Cambodian People are to be congratulated for the peaceful and orderly way in which they turned out to vote … in a clear demonstration of their commitment to democracy”
Head of the Asian Network For Free Elections (ANFREL) - Ms. Somsri Hananuntasuk
Calling for an investigation and "a serious penalty" for manipulation of the vote
The election was maybe free, but not fair at all
The main problem was people being deleted from voter lists, while there also needed to be limits on campaign financing and the ruling party's control of media
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
Lower violence from previous elections but threats, intimidation and inducements directed against political activists to get them to change parties
The Japanese Embassy's statement
No violent activities, intimidation or irregularities that may undermine the overall credibility of the election.
The 2008 National Assembly election has shown an impression internally and externally for its democratic advancement in the Kingdom of Cambodia
The Neutral and Impartial Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia
The election had been administered well and largely free of intimidation and violence, but the election was also "marred" by a number of irregularities, including the mission of a "significant" number of voter names from registries.
US Embassy - spokesman John Johnson
While there appeared to be "some irregularities," the "vast majority" of Cambodians were able to express their will."
The effects [death-lock may bring upon the nation]
It depends how one would closely look into the situation itself, however, there would be definitely certain effects whether they are medium or serious, but would drastically and inevitably impact on the livihood of its citizen as whole.
One of the greater impact is the potential Direct Foreign Investment, it seemed that many potential invetors would have to put on hold at this stage - until further political progress and that is subjected to any negotiation amongst all political parties concerned.
The first batch of oil and gas drilling may also be effected by the stand-off.
It would also impact on the the border stand-off [Thai-Cambodia].
Conclusion:
Even if a government were to go ahead, Sam Rainsy said his party, which won as
many as 27 seats Sunday, would maintain a strong opposition voice in the National Assembly."There is enough voice to pressure the government to do a better job
Click here for original and full story "We will go to the seat and serve the interests of voters by not giving up all the results we received, even though it was fraudulent."
Based on the above comment, I do beleive that Mr. Sam Rainsy does have a political wills to resolve the death-lock. It is a matter of when and how Mr. Sam Rainsy wants to commit it.
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