Government
National government
Cambodia's budget transparency at all-time low: report
The Cambodian government’s budget transparency score has fallen to its lowest measure on record, according to a recent survey, but officials remain optimistic that the score will improve in the future. Cambodia’s score of eight out of 100 in 2015’s Open Budget Survey put it near ...
UN criticises Cambodia, China rights violations
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on 17 November that an arrest warrant issued against Cambodia’s opposition leader Sam Rainsy was a worrisome development and called for dialogue. Meanwhile, in Geneva, a UN watchdog questioned Chinese officials over alleged widespread use of torture in the country’s prisons, deaths ...
Vietnam, New Zealand sign four agreements
Vietnamese and New Zealand businesses signed four agreements on 15 November during the official visit by New Zealand Prime Minister John Key to Vietnam. The four business-to-business arrangements – between Global Trust Alliance, AsureQuality and Vinamilk, Airways International and the Vietnam Air Traffic Management Corporation, Airways International ...
Myanmar's outgoing MPs ease back in to work
As parliamentarians arrived at the vast entrance hall to the Pyithu Hluttaw on 16 November morning, they were doing their best to keep their expressions neutral – none more so than the last to arrive. Daw Aung San Suu Kyi is known for maintaining a steely expression ...
US pledges $259m to SE Asian allies for maritime security
The United States said on 16 November it would provide US$259 million to its Southeast Asian allies for maritime security, as tensions rise over Beijing’s island-building in the disputed South China Sea. The pledges of support to the Philippines, Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia came shortly after US ...
Ethnic parties concerned over limited voice in 2016 parliament
Ethnic political leaders are concerned over their marginal collective role in Myanmar’s next Parliament, with the majority of ethnic parties enjoying few gains in 8 November’s general election. “It’s like we have been hit by a tsunami,” said Sai Aung Myint Khaing, a central committee member of ...
Stripped of immunity, Rainsy delays return
Three days after a warrant was issued for his arrest, Cambodia National Rescue Party president Sam Rainsy on 16 November backed off a pledge to return to the Kingdom and face the prospect of jail, but insisted he would arrive soon. A day of drama that began ...
Thai Deputy PM insists on using administrative order in rice cases
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam has reiterated the government is not bullying ex-PM Yingluck Shinawatra when it demands compensation from her for damages from the rice-pledging programme using using the 1996 administrative tort law instead of the Civil Code. Damages can be claimed in one of the ...
President to parties: Stability during transition is responsibility of all
As if to reflect the sea change that has overtaken the country’s politics in the past week, representatives of the National League for Democracy – still officially the opposition party – were seated at the head of the table at a meeting with President U Thein ...
Rainsy vows to return amid threats of arrest
Opposition leader Sam Rainsy is scheduled to return to Phnom Penh on 16 November where he could face arrest and a two-year prison sentence over a defamation case dating back to 2008, his party said on 15 November. Eng Chhay Eang, a spokesman of the opposition Cambodia ...
