PHNOM PENH: The National Assembly has officially elected Cheam Yeap as the First Vice President on Thursday’s sixth plenary session. Cheam Yeap replaces the late Nguon Nhel who died of illness on the 5th of November. The Standing Committee of the National Assembly has previously set agendas on Monday including the approval of the draft law on the ASEAN Protocol on Strengthening Dispute Resolution Mechanism.

After three weeks of being vacated, the First Vice President of National Assembly has finally been filled.The standing committee has elected Cheam Yeap on Thursday. The Vice Presidency seat of the National Assembly has been emptied since Nguon Nhel passed away on the fifth of November.

Cheam Yep was born in 1946 in Prek Cham Village, at Peam Ro District in Prey Veng Province. He was the teacher and school principal of the Popular Socialist Community lead by Prince Norodom Sihanouk and after he has turn into the commander of Tank Brigade at the Khmer Republic between 1975 and 1979. Following the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, Cheam Yep was appointed as the Prey Veng’s Governor.

In 1988, he became the Minister of Tourism until 1993, when he turned to be a Member of the Parliament until Thursday, replacing the late Nguon Nhel’s seat to become Cambodia’s First Vice President of the National Assembly.

The National Assembly has also discussed about the approval of the draft law on the ASEAN Protocol on Strengthening Dispute Resolution Mechanisms, the approval of the 2022 draft law on finance for management, and approval of the 2020 draft law on the payment of the general state budget.