BANGKOK (Sputnik) — The general election in Cambodia will take place as scheduled in 2018, Nation TV reported, citing Prime Minister Hun Sen.
According to the prime minister, the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) members who had not been added to the list of 118 politicians banned from politics for five yeas would be able to participate in the election by setting up a new party.
The statement comes hours after the Cambodian Supreme Court issued a ruling, which stipulates that the CNRP, the country’s largest opposition party, should be dissolved, while its elected representatives will lose their seats in the parliament and local bodies. Furthermore, 118 senior party members, including party chair Kem Sokha and exiled founder Sam Rainsy will be banned from politics for next five years.
In its turn, the CNRP has refused to recognize the decision, calling it an "act of robbery."
#Cambodia opposition party announces that it doesn't recognise and accept the high court's ruling to disband it, refusing to dissolve while calling the decision as an "act of roberry." #CNRP, #PoliticsKH. pic.twitter.com/HM2JNHLUYi
— Chhengpor Aun (@aunchhengpor) 16 ноября 2017 г.
The ruling, which disbanded the only opposition party capable to compete with the ruling Cambodian People's Party in the upcoming election, came in the light of accusations that the CNRP leaders were plotting a "color revolution" in the kingdom with the assistance of the United States.
In June, Cambodia's opposition #CNRP party won 489 local commune seats and almost 44% of the popular vote. With the party now dissolved, those seats will likely default to Hun Sen's ruling CPP – but more than three million people who voted for change aren't going away.
— Paul Millar (@PaulRMillar) 16 ноября 2017 г.
The CNRP held 55 seats in the parliament’s lower house, the National Assembly, while the ruling Cambodian People's Party led by Prime Minister Hun Sen won 68 seats in the latest election in 2013.
