Prime Minister Hun Sen has ordered the Minister of Justice to draft a law that allows incumbents to have only one nationality- Cambodian.
He took to Facebook to say that in order to show loyalty to the nation and to avoid “foreign interference”, national leaders who serve as the President of the Senate, the President of the National Assembly, the Prime Minister and the President of the Constitutional Council must all have only Khmer nationality. He has assigned the task to the Minister of Justice, Koeut Rith, to study and prepare a draft law to amend the Constitution accordingly.
He wrote, “If you play, do not be angry, if you are angry, do not play, because the door is closed forever for the two nationalities who are trying to hold this top position, especially the position of Prime Minister, because the amendment of the constitution or the law on organizations requires a two-thirds majority.
Army Commander Hun Manet also supported the Prime Minister’s decision. He wrote on his Facebook page that any politician who is determined to be the supreme leader of the nation who is responsible for the fate and interests of the Khmer nation “must dare to sacrifice everything for the cause of the nation and the people”.
“As a Cambodian citizen, I would like to support Samdech's statement that the top leaders of the nation should have only one nationality, the Khmer nationality," he wrote.
The Cambodian Constitution does not state the nationality of the country's top leaders since its inception in 1993.
The President of the Institute of International Relations of Cambodia, Dr. Kin Phea, told EAC News that it is good to show that when someone wants to be the leader of the country, he must be a true patriot.
"It's a clear message to prevent a politician of a few nationalities from doing something illegal when he is causing trouble to society," he said. He said if that person had dual citizenship, he caused trouble and could flee his country to another where he was a citizen. And, of course, the ones who suffered are the ones who supported him, and we have already seen Mr. Sam Rainsy. ”
The Prime Minister was reacting to a statement by Sam Rainsy who accused him of buying a Cypriot passport.
