Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, newly-elected President of the 5th legislature of the Senate, has expressed his commitment to lead the Senate in carrying out its roles and duties with solid responsibility.
“As President of the upper house, I would like to affirm my determination to lead this institution in fulfilling its roles and duties, and to join hands with the National Assembly and the Royal Government to deliver their respective mandates with solid responsibility to serve the Cambodian nation and its people,” he said in his speech after being elected as the President of the 5th legislature of the Senate this morning at the Senate Palace in Phnom Penh.
“We will firmly protect the Constitution, the Monarchy and our liberal multi-party democracy and rule of law. We will spare no efforts to ensure strong national unity and social solidarity and safeguard our country’s independence, sovereignty, territorial integrity, and dignity,” he underlined.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen spoke highly of the Senate’s roles, stressing that since its inception, the Senate has demonstrated great competence, political maturity and highest responsibility in serving the core interests of the country and people, delivering remarkable achievements and progress in the implementation of its three core functions which are legislation, oversight of the implementation of the laws and policies, and representation.
In addition, he continued, the Senate plays a crucial role in domestic politics, coordinating the work between the National Assembly and the Royal Government to solve any political crisis whenever such contingency happens.
“In my capacity as co-founder of this Senate, I would like to take this very rare opportunity to recall the political importance of the establishment of the Senate in resolving the political crisis that created a major threat to the national unity and stability after the elections of the members of the National Assembly of the Second Legislature. Thanks to late Samdech Akka Moha Thomma Pothisal Chea Sim’s willingness to head this highest institution in 1999 based on the agreement on Nov. 13, 1998, the door was opened for a political solution and cooperation between the elected political parties. Since then, the Senate has worked with professionalism and responsibility in representing and defending the interests of citizens and ensuring that their voices are heard in the legislative process. The Senate plays a vital role in the development and passage of the laws that govern our nation. Through its thorough review and offer of its views of draft laws and bills, the Senate also provides checks and balances of state powers, ensuring that decisions are made that reflect the values and aspirations of our society and people,” he said.
The role of the Senate is also very important in developing international relations. “For that reason and for this legislature, I am going to adopt the promotion of parliamentary diplomacy as one of our institution’s priorities. The world at present is increasingly interconnected, yet polarised, complex and turbulent due to the growing strategic competition of the world superpowers, wars and crises around the globe and unprecedented non-traditional security threats. In this difficult and dangerous context, it is essential that we strengthen our relationships with our international partners, get more actively involved in various international gatherings and work together to address global challenges. By fostering dialogue and cooperation among parliaments in our region and around the world and complementing the actions led by our government and the National assembly, we can make a significant contribution to promoting global peace, security, stability and prosperity,” Samdech Techo Hun Sen explained.
The Senate President added that the second main priority is to work closely with the electorate, especially with the members of the commune/ Sangkat councils who represent and work on a daily basis with and for the people at the sub-national level. “We will continue to contribute as much as we can to the democratisation process and nation-building and national development, the decentralisation and de-concentration reforms and to the improvement of the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of public services,” he said.
Samdech Techo Hun Sen also laid stress on the importance to promote and protect social justice and social equity, ensuring that every person lives in dignity, enjoys the rights, freedoms, beliefs which are protected by the Constitution.
