Government
Government spokesman rejects calls for Rohingya citizenship
A spokesperson for President Thein Sein took to social media on 21 November to reject recommendations that Rohingya Muslims be granted a path to citizenship. The minister’s comments were made in the wake of the United Nations’ Universal Periodic Review, a comprehensive human rights examination comprising recommendations from ...
Election offers glimmer of hope for Kayan
Among its many victories in the 8 November election, the National League for Democracy won the seat of the minister for ethnic Kayan people in Shan State. The incoming minister, U Khun Aye Maung, says now things are going to change. Known to the world’s tourists ...
Nationalism defeated at the ballot box
Why did self-proclaimed nationalist parties fare so badly in the election? Though the absence of opinion polls and comparable electoral data made it difficult in advance to gauge the extent of support for any party, nationalist candidates appeared to be well-organised and amply funded. The hardline ...
Cambodian PM urges cooperation on climate problems
Prime Minister Hun Sen on 21 November called for stronger cooperation in implementing the ASEAN-US Joint Statement on Climate Change, noting that the phenomenon is “obviously happening”. The statement, adopted last November, calls on ASEAN members to implement 33 points, such as ratifying Kyoto Protocol goals and ...
Cambodian PM urges US to drop tariffs
Prime Minister Hun Sen urged policymakers in Washington to expand its preferential treatment of goods imported from least-developed countries (LDCs) including Cambodia by increasing the amount of goods permitted duty- and quota-free access to the US market. “Cambodia would like to request that the US provide ...
Chinese premier highlights railway, FTA in talks with Lao, New Zealand PMs
The cooperation on a railway linking China and Laos has been advancing smoothly and the foundation stone will soon be laid to start its construction, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said here on 21 November. Li called the railway one of the new fruits of bilateral cooperation ...
ASEAN Summit: Heavy workload awaits leaders starting to arrive
A gruelling workload and hectic pace awaits 18 heads of states and governments who will be arriving here today to attend the 27th ASEAN Summit and related summits. The two days in Kuala Lumpur is no holiday for them, with 10 summits and 59 documents to pore ...
Cambodian groups urge 'free and fair' election pledge
A coalition of election monitoring NGOs on 19 November urged the government to endorse an international commitment to free and fair elections, and to evaluate the Kingdom’s elections according to its standards. Koul Panha, executive director of election watchdog Comfrel – part of the umbrella group Electoral ...
Construction feud embroils local government in Ratanakkiri
The governor of Ratanakkiri’s Banlung town was sued on 18 November by a local resident and army veteran for allegedly seizing construction materials and violating private property rights without a court warrant. Kory Prel, 46, who served in the army and provincial police for more than 30 ...
Government, ceasefire groups inch toward dialogue
A major step toward reducing the risk of military clashes near zones controlled by groups that signed last month’s ceasefire agreement has been taken with the completion of a military code of conduct, the government says. Agreement on the draft was reached at the second Joint ...
