PHNOM PENH: King Norodom Sihamoni will preside over the first session of the 7th National Assembly on August 21.

Senior dignitaries, diplomats to Cambodia and representatives of a number of NGOs are invited to attend the upcoming ceremony, to which the king has ordered all 125 candidates from 25 provinces who won seats in the July election. The official election results released last week show that 120 seats will be occupied by the Cambodian People’s Party while the remaining five went to royalist party FUNCINPEC.

This session’s main focus will be on approving the mandate of each member in addition to agreeing on the internal rules of the 7th National Assembly. The meeting will resume on August 22 to elect the President and Vice-President of the National Assembly in addition to Chairmen of the Vice-Chairmen of its specialized committees. There will also be a confidence vote to form the new government under the leadership of appointed Prime Minister Hun Manet.

The National Assembly is reformed every five years following general elections, during which voters choose a party which then decides on the candidates that will occupy the seats they win. The National Assembly is then tasked with the final vote on who the prime minister will be. The elections began in 1993 and this will be the seventh time the National Assembly begins with a new mandate.