Two More CNRP Officials Request Return to Politics
19 May 2021
VOA Khmer
FILE PHOTO- Former Vice President of opposition party Cambodia National Rescue Party Pol Ham, center left, prays together with his former party lawmaker Son Chhay, center right, during a Buddhist ceremony, in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, March 30, 2018. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)
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PHNOM PENH, CAMBODIA
Two former CNRP officials banned from political activity have requested amnesty from the government, hoping to join with at least 22 former opposition members re-entering the political fray ahead of the June 2022 commune election.
Former Cambodia National Rescue Party Vice President Pol Ham and party official Phan Chansak, who is also Kem Sokha’s lawyer in the treason trial, requested a return to politics, according to a request letter dated May 17.
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PHNOM PENH
Seven former Cambodia National Rescue Party officials, including a few close aides of former party president Kem Sokha, were granted political amnesty and allowed to reenter the political arena.
King Norodom Sihamoni on Saturday signed royal decrees, allowing the seven former CNRP senior members to participate in political activity. Most notably, former CNRP lawmaker Yem Ponhearith and Kem Sokha’s chief of staff, Muth Chantha, will now restart their political careers.
The five others are former lawmakers Lat Litai and Tout Khoeut and party executive members Chum Chandarin, Long Kimkhorn, and Yang Phannet.
The Supreme Court in 2017 dissolved the CNRP for allegedly attempting to overthrow the Cambodian People’s Party government in a so-called color revolution. The high court also banned 118 of the party’s senior leaders for five years.