55 Lawmakers Elect Boycott Opening Assembly Session

Cambodia’s king and 68 ruling party members went forward with an opening parliamentary session on Monday, but the National Assembly meeting was boycotted by 55 opposition lawmakers elect. The session follows July elections that the opposition says were tainted with irregularities and fraud that should be credibly investigated. Foreign dignitaries also attended the meeting, at the invitation of the king, but US Ambassador William Todd told VOA Khmer this did not mean the US fully endorsed the election. “America still believes that the election results still have errors and irregularities that need to be looked into,” Todd told reporters at the meeting. “We also believe that to have a National Assembly that functions, you need two parties.” (Heng Reaksmey and Say Mony, Phnom Penh)