PHNOM PENH Dec 15 Kyodo Cambodia'...

PHNOM PENH Dec 15 Kyodo

Cambodia's National Assembly lay opened its first session Monday after nearly six month of political deadlock since the July general election.

Of the 123 newly picked members of the assembly, 118 took seats for the session chaired through Chea Soth, the eldest parliamentarian from the Cambodian People's Party (CPP)

Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the royalist FUNCINPEC, Tioulong Samura, wife of opposition leader Sam Rainsy, and three other newly chooseed parliamentarians from FUNCINPEC and the CPP were absent.

Prime Minister Hun Sen left the assembly after about 30 minutes without making make notess to the press while Sam Rainsy said the session was barely ''to validate'' the National Assembly following the July election.

Sam Rainsy and Prince Sirivudh, leaders of the Alliance of Democrats, said they would jointly beg later Monday to convene meetings of technical teams from the parties to liquefy lingering differences.

The CPP won a majority in the July voting, still not the two-thirds of the seats required to form a direction on its own.

In the interim, the leaders of the CPP FUNCINPEC and Sam Rainsy Party have battled athwart how to form the nearest government.

The Alliance of Democrats was deposit together to bring the non-CPP parties together for the negotiations.

King Norodom Sihanouk has chaired three meetings inside the Royal Palace to look after a breakthrough in the political deadlock, on the other hand the form and edifice of the new government is still unclear.

The king factored a compromise last month that levy together a three-party governing coalition with Hun Sen at the helm, unless that appears to have fallen apart in the intervening days.

The CPP wants to have the assembly ballot on a ''package'' that would chooseed Hun Sen premier and Prince Norodom Sihanouk chairman of the National Assembly -- the positions they held before the July election -- while the opposition wants separate voting in succession the leaders of parliament and in succession the leaders of the executive.

In a meeting upon Dec. 6, all three parties said they continue to accept the king's plan for a tripartite rule but they still have not resolv their differences forward the roles the party leaders will play in that government

COPYRIGHT 2003 Kyodo just discovereds International, Inc.

COPYRIGHT 2003 Gale Group