Oppn gets Cambodia on brink of constitutional crisis

A representative for the monarch, who is now in the northern town of Siem Reaap, accepted the petitions, which Opposition leaders said contained more than 20,000 signatures.

The marchers then paraded through the city distributing copies of the petitions that accuse Hun Sen of bringing the country to ruin.

“Hun Sen has led the country into disaster,” it said. “The people only see suffering and tears… Hun Sen has shown clearly that he does not think about the interests of the Cambodian people.”

As the petitions were being presented, the King’s son andOpposition leader, deposed co-premier Prince Norodom Ranariddh, said unless the CPP moved to resolve the crisis, the political stalemate and instability would continue.

“If there is no solution, it will be a very difficult situation for Cambodia,” the prince, leader of the royalist FUNCINPEC party, told reporters at a news conference, vowing the protest would continue.

“We must respect the will of the people,” he said. “But if the people think we should put an end to the demonstration, we will. They will let us know and we will follow the will of the people.”

FUNCINPEC and dissident Sam Rainsy’s self-named party are the vanguard of the ongoing protest which has drawn thousands of people to a park dubbed “Democracy Square” in front of parliament.

The protestors are demanding that Opposition complaints of widespread vote fraudand irregularities in the July 26 election be addressed. They also want Hun Sen to resign.

Hun Sen, who ousted the prince in bloody fighting in July 1997, has refused tostep down, saying his victory in the polls indicated the will of the people.

The National Election Committee and the country’s highest appeals body, both of which the Opposition contends are biased in favor of the CPP, have categorically rejected complaints – most without investigation.

The two parties, which won the remainder of parliamentary seats, have threatened to boycott parliament unless their complaints are resolved, a move which could lead to a constitutional crisis with the Assembly unable to meet for lack of a quorum.

Even if the complaints are met, the Opposition has pledged to use its leverage in the Assembly to block the formation of a coalition government unless Hun Sen, who ousted Prince Ranariddh as first Prime minister last year, resigns.

“They need us (so) they have to take our view into consideration,” the prince said.

A coalition is necessary because, while the CPP has a majority in parliament, it lacks the two-thirds needed to form a government on its own.

Prince Ranariddhsaid attempts to get around that requirement by amending the constitution or keeping the current government in place would be met with increased resistance.