DISSOLUTION OF MAIN OPPOSITION PARTY IN CAMBODIA

Early day motion 573, tabled 21 November 2017 by Ann Clwyd (Labour). Signed by 16 members.

That this House is very concerned about the ongoing political crackdown on members of the opposition, civil rights groups and independent media in Cambodia; notes with alarm that the main opposition party, the Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved, and 118 of its senior members banned from politics for five years, including 53 out of the 66 CNRP parliamentarians, by the Supreme Court last week and that laws have been amended to allow parliamentary and local seats currently held by CNRP members to be redistributed to other political parties; fears that dissolving the main opposition party could result in a fatal undermining of democracy and future elections; further notes that the ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights believe that the dissolution has ushered in a new era of de facto one-party rule; notes also that the Inter-Parliamentary Union has called again for the immediate release of all detained CNRP members, including its leader Kem Sokha, and an end to their ongoing harassment; urges the Cambodian Government to allow the opposition, and all Cambodians, to play a meaningful role in national elections in 2018; and calls on the Government to raise its concerns as a matter of urgency and to consider what concrete action can be taken with the international community to rectify the current situation.

Signatures by party: Scottish National Party 8, Labour 4, Conservative 2, DUP 1, Plaid Cymru 1.