PHNOM PENH, NOV 15: Cambodia's third-biggest political party, set to become the sole opposition force in parliament, today cautiously welcomed an agreement that will place strongman Hun Sen at the head of a new coalition government.The opposition party led by former finance minister Sam Rainsy, which placed a distant third in a July election, applauded King Norodom Sihanouk's efforts to end a three-month-long political stalemate by brokering a deal on Friday between its opposition ally Funcinpec and Hun Sen's ruling party.But the Sam Rainsy party remained cautious, noting that many of the details of the new deal had yet to be ironed out in the deal, including the makeup of Hun Sen's coalition government and the exact role of a new senate in the Cambodian legislature.Hun Sen's CPP narrowly won the election, but the party needs support from Prince Norodom Ranariddh's Funcinpec Party to gain the two-thirds vote in the national assembly required for approval of a new government.
