The sore-loser proviso

Nearly half of the National Assembly’s seats were vacant during the first meeting of the newly formed parliament in 2014

Nearly half of the National Assembly’s seats were vacant during the first meeting of the newly formed parliament in 2014, after the CNRP boycotted the election results. Heng Chivoan

The sore-loser proviso

Fri, 6 March 2015
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The ruling and opposition parties have added a provision to a soon-to-be passed draft election law that aims to prevent any party winning seats in the National Assembly from subsequently boycotting parliament.

The decision comes after Prime Minister Hun Sen last month called on bipartisan working groups drafting amendments to the current election law to include a rule that would see boycotting parties stripped of their seats.

But the wording of the law, which was finalised on Wednesday, appears to still leave open the possibility of the same kind of boycott the Cambodia National Rescue Party launched in the aftermath of the 2013 poll after claiming the election had been rigged.

The draft law states that parties can be stripped of their seats if they boycott the opening session of the National Assembly presided over by the King, the swearing-in of lawmakers or when the assembly officially declares their validity – but only if the election was “free, fair and just”.

The law says this would be judged according to the constitution – determined by the Constitutional Council – and the election law, which is the domain of the National Election Committee (NEC).
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