The Governing Council of the Inter-Parliamentary Union,

Referring to the case of Mr. Chhang Song, Mr. Siphan Phay and Mr. Savath Pou, members (expelled) of the Senate of Cambodia, as outlined in the report of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians (CL/178/12(b)-R.1), and to the resolution adopted at its 177th session (October 2005),

Recalling the following: the Senators concerned were expelled from their party, the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), on 6 December 2001 following statements they made in the Senate critical of the Criminal Procedure Code bill; they were dismissed from parliament a few days later despite the absence of any provisions either in the Constitution or in the Standing Orders prescribing forfeiture of the parliamentary mandate in the event of expulsion from a political party; the Senate President has, however, affirmed that by virtue of Article 157 of the Constitution the party was entitled to revoke their mandate,

Recalling further that, in an effort to prevent the recurrence of similar cases, an expert from the French Senate provided assistance in April 2003 for the drafting of revised Standing Orders; he advised, in keeping with IPU views, that no provision should be made prescribing forfeiture of the parliamentary mandate in the event of expulsion from a political party; indeed, the amended Standing Orders as conveyed to the Committee in August 2003 did not stipulate such forfeiture among the grounds leading to loss of the mandate,

Considering, however, in this respect that Article 31 of Chapter 9 of the Senate election law promulgated on 20 June 2005 stipulates, inter alia, that a senator shall lose membership in the Senate if he or she has lost his or her party membership, and that, according to the Senate President, the Senate’s draft Standing Orders to be adopted by the new Senate contain a similar provision,

Considering finally that the first Senate elections were held on 22 January 2006, and that the newly elected Senate has taken up its term,

1. Deeply regrets that the IPU’s views and recommendations regarding loss of the parliamentary mandate have gone unheeded, since Article 31 of the Senate Electoral Law opens the door for political parties to revoke the mandate of Senators; wishes to ascertain the circumstances and procedural provisions that have been put in place in this respect, and reiterates its wish to receive a copy of the Standing Orders as adopted by the new Senate;

2. Requests the Secretary General to seek this information from the new Senate authorities, and requests the Committee to report to it at its next session, to be held during the 115th IPU Assembly (October 2006).

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