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Canadian To Train Cambodian Lawmaker
Canada
has launched a five-year
$3.25 million project to help parliamentarians,
their commissions and secretariats develop resources
so that they can better research and debate issues. Rey
Pagtakhan, secretary of state for Asia
Pacific at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade, called it "a venue for
strengthening democracy." Among other issues,
parliamentarians are interested in how to keep in
touch with constituents. This is important in a Democracy, since
lawmakers should vote with their constituents in
mind, Pagtakhan said. Kol
Pheng, the National Assembly general
secretary, and Oum Sarith, Senate general secretary,
welcomed the initiative. "We have staff but they don't have
proper working expertise," Oum Sarith said. Throughout the 1990s, Cambodian
parliamentarians visited Canada to observe the
workings of its houses; and during the 1998 general
elections, Canadian advisors trained Cambodians in
voter registration and voting process, Canadian
Ambassador Normand Mailhot said.
Cambodia
Daily- February 22, 2001
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