The long-awaited anticorruption draft law will be debated on December 11, 2009 after Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen order Council of Ministers to announce officially on Friday last week.

The primer chose the December 11 weekly meeting for consideration of the anti-graft draft law, which if approved, will head to the National Assembly for a vote, according to the statement released Friday evening.

In October 1994, the first anticorruption draft law sent to the National Assembly but has never been enacted, exposing the government to accusation of malingering.

The Phnom Penh Post quoted Yim Sovann, opposition party spokesman, as saying that “in the current stable political climate and due to the passing of the new Penal Code by the National Assembly, it is time for the government to fight against corruption.” He added that his party welcomed the push for the new bill, but warned that the government must consider recommendations by national and international experts.

Last week, a member of the anti-corruption unite said that the government was unlikely to allow independent reviews called for under the UN Convention Against Corruption, to which Cambodia acceded in 2007.

Chea Vannath, political observer, said that the law’s progress through the drafting process is a message that the Cambodia leadership is working to stop dishonesty in politics and making progress, report the Cambodia Daily.

She said to the fight corruption effectively, a strong law is needed and the public should be encouraged to help out by, for example, not paying bribes or allowing nepotism to happen in the workplace.

Thun saray, president of Adhoc, was quoted by the Post as saying that “we cannot say if the anticorruption law will be good or not, but were are concerned about implementation while the judicial system lacks independence,” adding that it is was positive that Hun Sen had kept his promise to pass the law after the new Penal Code, but also expressed some concerns about the mechanisms by which it would punish corrupt activities.

Mr. Cheam Yeap, CCP lawmaker, expected that the law to be finally enacted and in force within the next six months, according to the Daily.

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