DPA
Phnom Penh - Cambodia's parliament on Thursday passed an anti-corruption law that the opposition has criticized as flawed and politically biased. Earlier on Thursday the opposition Sam Rainsy Party (SRP) quit the parliamentary debate. SRP legislator Son Chhay said that the party's suggested amendments had been repeatedly ignored, including one to ensure the assets of senior government figures were made public.
"This is a bad day for the country - we have waited so long for a mechanism to fight corruption," he said. "We have at least 45 per cent of the population living below the poverty line, and we have a handful of families who become billionaires while there are so many who are starving."
The law was voted through by members of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which holds a two-thirds majority in parliament. No government spokesman was available for comment.
Cambodia is regarded as one of the most corrupt countries in the world, and donors and civil society have called since 1995 for a law to tackle graft.
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