Cambodian parliament approves law that stops main opposition leader from running for office

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Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen. Photo: Reuters

Published: 3:58pm, 20 Feb 2017Updated: 11:04pm, 20 Feb 2017

Cambodia’s parliament amended a law on Monday to stop anyone convicted of an offence from running for office, effectively barring long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen’s main rival.

Critics said that the changes approved would undermine the multi-party democracy established in the Southeast Asian state by 1991 peace accords and could turn Cambodia into a de facto one-party state.

Opponents accuse Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge guerrilla, of unfair manoeuvring to try to retain his three-decade grip on power at local elections in June and a general election next year.

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy. Photo: Reuters

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party voted to change the 1998 election law to ban parties that engage in activities that include incitement, promoting secession or anything that could harm national security. Politicians convicted by a court are banned from standing for election and their parties can be dissolved. That would exclude veteran opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has been convicted of a series of defamation charges and has lived in exile in France since 2015 to avoid them.

He resigned from the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) this month, saying he wanted to save his party in the face of the potential ban. He rejects the charges against him as politically motivated.