Phnom Penh, Dec 15: Cambodia's Parliament today convened for the first time since general elections in July, in a first step by the country's three leading parties to end their bickering and form a coalition. The National Assembly's inaugural session was attended by 118 of the 123 elected lawmakers from the three parties. But the assembly adjourned after 30 minutes without any work being conducted.
Cambodia has been in the grip of a political stalemate since the July 27 elections. Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won the highest number of seats but not the two-thirds majority constitutionally required for it to form a government on its own.
The runner-up parties, the opposition Sam Rainsy Party and the Royalist Funcinpec, have set several conditions for joining the CPP in a coalition.
The three parties agreed last week that they would at least convene the national assembly while negotiations on ending the deadlock continue.
Bureau Report