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Sokha tells crowd not to turn to small parties
Speaking to hundreds of members and supporters in Phnom Penh’s Thmar Koul village, Sokha said the party must stand united if it is to win the 2018 national election.
“Do not break our forces; do not break our spirit to argue with this one or that one,” he said. “I would like to call for us to meet on only one battlefield [so we can] win to lead the country in the upcoming election.”
In his remarks, Sokha told supporters to steer clear of grassroots political aspirant Kem Ley, League for Democracy Party leader Khim Veasna, and Mam Sonando, who recently revived his Beehive Social Democratic Party.
“If we turn to Sonando a little bit, Kem Ley a little bit, Khim Veasna a little bit . . . forget a big battlefield, [we] would lose one more time,” he said.
The CNRP saw considerable gains in the 2013 national election, winning 55 of the National Assembly’s 123 seats.
But, Sokha said, if dozens more opposition parties are created before the 2018 election and the CNRP’s members do not remain loyal, it will be impossible to take power from the Cambodian People’s Party.
Sonando, however, said yesterday that people are losing confidence in the CNRP.
“I do not pay attention to Kem Sokha or Sam Rainsy. I am paying attention to people’s needs,” he added.
Political analyst Ou Virak said CNRP supporters were likely to remain loyal for the upcoming election.
“I think it’s a given that it will be a two-party race in 2018,” he said. But, he added, if the CNRP is unable to gain the seats needed to take power in 2018, its future beyond that looks bleak.
“I don’t think the CNRP, as it is today, could continue,” he said, explaining that support for the party would likely drop and divisions heighten.
CPP spokesman Sok Eysan said his party was confident it will win the next election with a simple strategy of “making people happy”.
“If we do good deeds people will support and vote for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, in his speech yesterday, Sokha said he hopes to see a CNRP governor in Phnom Penh in the future. He announced plans for a congress in 2017 to reform the voting system in the hopes of making this happen.
PM denies revealing price tag for stadium
Prime Minister Hun Sen yesterday denied a senior sport official’s $100 million cost estimate for a new national stadium, although he confirmed it will be China footing the bill.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Koh Pich, the premier said that he had approved the building’s design but distanced himself from the nine-figure tally for its completion.
“I did not say China gave $100 million to build this stadium; where did The Phnom Penh Post get this from? I did not say it,” he told more than a thousand graduating students. “I just approved a design from the [two designs presented] for approval.”
‘Satisfied’
While Hun Sen did not address the stadium’s cost on Monday, National Olympic Committee secretary-general Vath Chamroeun pegged it at $100 million on the same day in a follow-up interview with the Post.
Though he insisted that the final estimate had yet to be tallied, Hun Sen yesterday confirmed the source of its funding.
“My negotiation is that China will give it, but how much it will cost has not been estimated,” he said. “Our Chinese friends just say that, whatever the cost, they will cover all, and Cambodia and Prime Minister Hun Sen are satisfied with that.”
The Morokot Decho stadium, which is located on the outskirts of the capital and intended to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Southeast Asia Games in 2023, saw ground broken in April 2013, with Hun Sen in attendance.
Speaking to the Post yesterday, Chamrouen still insisted that the Cambodian technical team’s evaluation of the main stadium’s construction cost would be about $100 million.
It’s not a number he feels will be a problem for the Chinese.
“China doesn’t care how much it costs, but we estimated it would cost about $100 million for the construction of this main stadium alone,” Chamroeun said.
Speaking at a graduation ceremony on Koh Pich, the premier said that he had approved the building’s design but distanced himself from the nine-figure tally for its completion.
“I did not say China gave $100 million to build this stadium; where did The Phnom Penh Post get this from? I did not say it,” he told more than a thousand graduating students. “I just approved a design from the [two designs presented] for approval.”
‘Satisfied’
While Hun Sen did not address the stadium’s cost on Monday, National Olympic Committee secretary-general Vath Chamroeun pegged it at $100 million on the same day in a follow-up interview with the Post.
Though he insisted that the final estimate had yet to be tallied, Hun Sen yesterday confirmed the source of its funding.
“My negotiation is that China will give it, but how much it will cost has not been estimated,” he said. “Our Chinese friends just say that, whatever the cost, they will cover all, and Cambodia and Prime Minister Hun Sen are satisfied with that.”
The Morokot Decho stadium, which is located on the outskirts of the capital and intended to host the opening and closing ceremonies of the Southeast Asia Games in 2023, saw ground broken in April 2013, with Hun Sen in attendance.
Speaking to the Post yesterday, Chamrouen still insisted that the Cambodian technical team’s evaluation of the main stadium’s construction cost would be about $100 million.
It’s not a number he feels will be a problem for the Chinese.
“China doesn’t care how much it costs, but we estimated it would cost about $100 million for the construction of this main stadium alone,” Chamroeun said.
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