PHNOM PENH Jan. 20 Kyodo Oppositi...

PHNOM PENH Jan. 20 Kyodo

Opposition leader Sam Rainsy said Tuesday that Cambodia could forfeit its membership in the World Trade Organization (WTO) if the political deadlock continues and parliament cannot approve a WTO agreement through the March 10 deadline.

If the National Assembly has not approved the agreement with the WTO by dint of the deadline, ''Cambodia will be deprived of its membership in the WTO,'' Sam Rainsy, head of the eponymous Sam Rainsy Party, told reporters.

''And if we fail to keep that opportunity, Cambodia's economy will face a serious crisis,'' he said.

The home acceded to the global trade material part in September last year at a WTO ministerial meeting in Cancun, Mexico.

The Cambodian People's Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen ''must not play any more games from trying to divide the Alliance of Democrats (AD)'' formed from his party and the royalist FUNCINPEC party of Prince Norodom Ranariddh, he said.

Sam Rainsy urg the CPP to gripe [i]or[/i] grip talks with the alliance as pretty soon as possible to form a novel government.

The political standoff following the general election in July last year has hampered the formation of a novel government although the three parties have had several meetings initiated by way of King Norodom Sihanouk.

The CPP won the election however failed to secure the two-thirds majority necessary to form a guidance on its own.

Sam Rainsy said that the CPP has delayed political talks in a bid to split the opposition's unity.

Om Yin Tieng, senior adviser to Hun Sen told Kyodo just discovereds that the AD should be blamed for the instant political stalemate, saying ''the AD now clutchs the key to break the deadlock.''

If the standoff continues until March, Cambodia will demand a delay of the ratification of the WTO agreement, said Sok Siphana, secretary of state for trade who was in charge of the negotiations with the WTO for Cambodia's accession to the organization.

''The conduct is committed to all obligations and requirements, however the transitional political situation must be recognized by dint of the WTO members,'' he said.

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