Cambodian parties to hold talks

Cambodian parties to hold talks

CAMBODIA: Cambodia's three main political parties will meet on Friday to discuss a shaky deal brokered by the revered King Norodom Sihanouk to break a months-long post-election deadlock, officials said on Monday.

The octogenarian monarch mediated the deal earlier this month to pave the way for a new coalition government after weeks of wrangling over the results of the July 27 general election in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation.

Under the king's formula, Khmer Rouge fighter-turned-prime minister Hun Sen and National Assembly chairman Prince Norodom Ranariddh would remain in their posts.

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy, who has sworn never to join a coalition led by Hun Sen, head of the dominant Cambodian People's Party (CPP), would become a deputy prime minister or National Assembly vice-chairman.

The royalist FUNCINPEC party and Sam Rainsy's faction have demanded economic and political reform as a basis for the talks. -- Reuters