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.