PHNOM PENH - The National Salvation Party is prepared to register with the Ministry of Interior on Monday, officials said Thursday after establishing 80 permanent members.
Members come from the opposition Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, but those parties will remain, with parliamentarians and local commune leaders holding their positions for now.
Officials selected a seven-member committee, headed by exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, which will help the party prepare for national elections in 2013, said Pol Ham, an official for the Human Rights Party who will be deputy chair of the committee.
Opposition officials formed the party after the ruling Cambodian People’s Party dominated local commune elections in June.
Election monitors say Cambodia’s election laws favor larger parties, and opposition leaders say they hope the new party will help invigorate voters at a time when Cambodia faces ongoing issues of poverty, rights abuses and illegal land seizures.
Members come from the opposition Sam Rainsy and Human Rights parties, but those parties will remain, with parliamentarians and local commune leaders holding their positions for now.
Officials selected a seven-member committee, headed by exiled opposition leader Sam Rainsy, which will help the party prepare for national elections in 2013, said Pol Ham, an official for the Human Rights Party who will be deputy chair of the committee.
Opposition officials formed the party after the ruling Cambodian People’s Party dominated local commune elections in June.
Election monitors say Cambodia’s election laws favor larger parties, and opposition leaders say they hope the new party will help invigorate voters at a time when Cambodia faces ongoing issues of poverty, rights abuses and illegal land seizures.
