11 February 2017•Update: 12 February 2017
By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH, Cambodia
Sam Rainsy, the exiled leader of Cambodia’s main opposition party, resigned from his post on Saturday in a move that he said was "for the sake of" the Cambodia National Rescue Party he co-founded in 2013.
Rainsy announced his resignation in a statement on Facebook and Twitter, where he wrote: "I resign as CNRP leader for the sake of the party. In all circumstances I cherish and uphold the CNRP’s ideals in my heart."
His most recent period of exile began in late 2015, when a years-old prison sentence for defamation was reinstated against him and an amnesty suspended.
A previous bout of exile ended in amnesty in 2013, weeks before the national elections. He returned to Phnom Penh on a wave of promise and change that won his new party—co-founded with former Human Rights Party leader Kem Sokha—55 seats in the National Assembly. But his CNRP and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, under Prime Minister Hun Sen, became deadlocked on a number of issues despite assertions that both would engage in a "culture of dialogue," and tensions have been mounting ahead of this year’s local commune elections and next year’s national elections.
The court cases and convictions against him have mounted up in his absence including a jail sentence for a video that someone else posted on his Facebook wall, as well as accusations of defamation.
Last month, Hun Sen threatened to introduce legislation that would prevent political parties from being led by anyone with a criminal conviction.
Calls to multiple CNRP members went unanswered on Saturday evening.
