New Government Could Still Face Deadlock
Protesting parties can still stall the formation of a government by refusing to have their candidates swear in, analysts said Tuesday. 
The ruling party may have won a sweeping victory Sunday, but analysts say the government could still face a political crisis. Cambodiahas adopted a system of simple majority, or 63 National Assembly seats, for theformation of a government, a number of seats the ruling Cambodian People'sParty appears to have won by a wide margin. But analysts said that even the 90 seats claimed by the CPPafter Sunday's election may not avert a deadlock, as the Cambodian constitutionrequires all National Assembly members to swear in following an election. If the roughly 33 elected parliamentarians from fournon-ruling parties refuse to be sworn in within the next 60 days, the Cambodiangovernment will face a post-election crisis. "According to the constitution, the National Assemblycan be created if all lawmakers participate. It is not difficult to create agovernment," said Chhim Phal Vorun, an expert in constitutional law."But the question is to make a functioning National Assembly, because wehave to set up a structure in which all members elected, 123, can go towork." Once the National Assembly is functioning, it can vote tocreate the new government, resolving a deadlock, he said. "But if other parties do not participate in theprocess, the CPP alone cannot make a functional National Assembly," hesaid. Thun Saray, president of the rights group Adhoc, saidTuesday the question was now whether the four main parties with seats ingovernment will demand another round of elections. Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said the parties were nowworking together to demand another round. Without a new election, the partieswill not accept the result of Sunday's polls, he said. "The only one way to avoid a crisis is to reorganize anelection throughout the country," Sam Rainsy said. Government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said Tuesday, however,the CPP can run a government and National Assembly on its own, if the otherparties refuse to have their members sworn in. "If they aren't sworn in, they will not haveparliamentary immunity," he said without elaborating. "So they arenot lawmakers by law, and in 60 days the National Assembly will open thesession. So each party must think for themselves, starting now, whether theywant to participate or not." Members of the four parties planned to meet Wednesday. National Election Committee Secretary-General Tep Nitha saidthere was no law for a second round elections. Parties can only request arecasting of ballots in stations where they can prove irregularities. Even if a government were to go ahead, Sam Rainsy said hisparty, which won as many as 27 seats Sunday, would maintain a strong oppositionvoice in the National Assembly. "There is enough voice to pressure the government to doa better job," he said. "We will go to the seat and serve the interestsof voters by not giving up all the results we received, even though it was fraudulent."