Top Opposition Leader in Cambodia Resigns as Election Nears<br />and become a rich man," he said, referring to the Cambodian People’s Party, led by Mr. Hun Sen. Mr. Sam Rainsy, while clearly irritating the prime minister, proved<br />useful over the years by presenting an internationally visible opposition figure to run in elections, which Mr. Hun Sen always won, Mr. Strangio added.<br />Rainsy said that This guy is crazy,<br />Mr. Hun Sen and Mr. Sam Rainsy came to a brief rapprochement in 2014<br />and 2015, with the opposition leader extracting some important political concessions from Mr. Hun Sen, including equal representation on the National Election Committee and a television broadcasting license.<br />This month, Mr. Hun Sen proposed a measure that could dissolve any party led by someone convicted of a crime, which Mr. Sam Rainsy has been many times,<br />because of an abundance of criminal defamation suits filed against him by government officials, government allies and the prime minister himself.<br />Phay Siphan, a government spokesman, said the lawsuits against opposition figures were private matters,<br />and he accused Mr. Sam Rainsy of trying to generate publicity with a dramatic exit.
