Coalition must continue: Hun Sen

Coalition must continue: Hun Sen

PHNOM PENH (AP): Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Friday that the ruling coalition should continue beyond the next national elections even if one party wins enough votes to govern alone.

Hun Sen told the Cabinet that a coalition of his Cambodian People's Party and Funcinpec party would ensure political stability and development, government spokesman Pen Thol said.

Hun Sen's suggestion appeared to be an attempt to devise a way to stay on in power in case his party lost the next national elections, scheduled for 2003.

While the CPP has effectively been in power for the last 15 years, there is widespread discontentment against the government of this poverty-stricken country for failing to improve the lives of its 11 million people. However, it is credited for bringing peace to the country after years of war.