News
Councillors decry omission
A sitting Sam Rainsy Party commune chief and council members from four communes in Ratanakkiri on March 12 decried their omission from the Cambodia National Rescue Party’s list of candidates for the upcoming June ballot. About 88,000 candidates were put forward to the National Election ...
Failures at assembly pile up
National Assembly effectiveness declined last year with prosecutions of opposition lawmakers, partisan passing of laws and many assembly members visiting constituents only to shore up their vote, an election watchdog claimed on February 21. A Committee for Free and Fair Elections in Cambodia report on ...
Party Law draws EU eyes
A European parliamentarian has submitted a “priority question” to Europe’s high representative for foreign affairs, Frederica Mogherini, urging strong action against Cambodia in response to recent threats by Prime Minister Hun Sen to dissolve opposition parties. Legislation proposed on Monday by the ruling Cambodian People’s ...
CPP passes 2017 budget
The 2017 national budget, with more than $5 billion in expenditures, was passed by the Senate on December 5 without any changes despite opposition from the CNRP. Expenditures in the 2017 budget are up 15.6 percent compared with 2016 and include more than $1 billion in foreign ...
Judges and rice: Cambodia's expanding reliance on China

Cambodia is rapidly expanding its diplomatic affair with China. Early last week it appealed to Beijing for help amid plunging rice pricesand then three days later Phnom Penh signed an MoU seeking Chinese assistance in overhauling its much maligned judiciary. The memorandum of understanding allows China ...
Asian countries defend Cambodia after UN envoy critique

The U.N.’s special rapporteur on human rights in Cambodia on September 28 hit the country with a growing list of criticisms over alleged human rights abuses, which Cambodia parried with the apparent support of neighboring states, including Burma, Laos, Thailand and China. Rhona Smith, in a presentation ...