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