Parliament Says Shadow Cabinet Plans Are Illegal

Cambodia Daily | 11 August 2016

The CNRP’s plan to form a shadow cabinet is illegal and will not be allowed by authorities, National Assembly spokesman Leng Peng Long said on Wednesday, prompting the opposition lawmaker in charge of the idea to say the party would just not call it that.

CNRP lawmaker Son Chhay announced the plans to name a group of shadow ministers at the party’s headquarters on Tuesday, saying it was necessary for fellow lawmakers to develop skills to run the government. Mr. Peng Long said, however, that there was no legal basis for such an activity and that only the government could name a cabinet.

CNRP lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang speaks outside the party’s headquarters in June. (Siv Channa/The Cambodia Daily)

“It’s illegal, and no laws in Cambodia allow parties to create a shadow cabinet,” Mr. Peng Long said. “The National Assembly will not recognize what they are doing, and there will be action from the government.”

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