The National Assembly ( km, រដ្ឋសភា, ) is one of the two houses (chambers) of the Parliament of Cambodia. It is referred to as the lower house, with the

Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...

being referred to as the

upper house An upper house is one of two chambers of a bicameral legislature, the other chamber being the lower house.''Bicameralism'' (1997) by George Tsebelis The house formally designated as the upper house is usually smaller and often has more restric ...

. The National Assembly is an elected body consisting of 125 members known as

Members of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

(MPs). Members are elected for five-year terms by

party-list proportional representation Party-list proportional representation (list-PR) is a subset of proportional representation electoral systems in which multiple candidates are elected (e.g., elections to parliament) through their position on an electoral list. They can also be u ...

, using provinces as constituencies of 1 to 18 members, and the

D'Hondt method The D'Hondt method, also called the Jefferson method or the greatest divisors method, is a method for allocating seats in parliaments among federal states, or in party-list proportional representation systems. It belongs to the class of highes ...

of seat distribution. A political party must secure 63 seats to obtain and preserve a majority. The National Assembly is headed by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

, currently

Heng Samrin Heng Samrin ( km, ហេង សំរិន; born 25 May 1934) is a Cambodian politician who serves as the President of the National Assembly of Cambodia. Between 1979 and 1992, he was the ''de facto'' leader of the Hanoi-backed People's Republ ...

. The sixth National Assembly was inaugurated on 6 September 2018, and presided by King

Norodom Sihamoni Norodom Sihamoni ( km, នរោត្តម សីហមុនី, ; born 14 May 1953) is King of Cambodia. He became King on 14 October 2004, a week after the abdication of his father, Norodom Sihanouk. He is the eldest son of Norodom Sih ...

History

6th National Assembly of Cambodia official portrait

The current National Assembly originated as the Constituent Assembly, a legislative body elected during the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC). After the 1993 election, the Assembly met and adopted a new constitution for Cambodia. After enactment of the 1993 Constitution, the Constituent Assembly was renamed the National Assembly. * Cambodia held its first elections in history on 1 September 1946. The Democrats won a majority of seats in the legislature. * Cambodia was proclaimed a

constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy, parliamentary monarchy, or democratic monarchy is a form of monarchy in which the monarch exercises their authority in accordance with a constitution and is not alone in decision making. Constitutional monarchies dif ...

on 6 May 1947.

Qualification

The qualifications to be a

candidate A candidate, or nominee, is the prospective recipient of an award or honor, or a person seeking or being considered for some kind of position; for example: * to be elected to an office — in this case a candidate selection procedure occurs. * ...

for the National Assembly are outlined in Article 76 of the 1993 Constitution. * The candidate must be a citizen of

Cambodia Cambodia (; also Kampuchea ; km, កម្ពុជា, UNGEGN: ), officially the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochinese Peninsula in Southeast Asia, spanning an area of , bordered by Thailand ...

by birth only. * The citizen must be at the age of twenty-five or older on Election Day. * The candidate must be on the electoral register.

Power and privileges

Law Adoption * Adopt and Amend laws for Cambodia and approve the national budget and administration accounts. (Article 90) * Approve or repeal international treaties and conventions. (Article 90) * Initiate legislation. (Article 91) Vote of confidence * Shall pass a vote of confidence in the Royal Government. (Article 90) * Dismiss any members of the Council of Ministers, or the Royal Government, by a motion of censure passed by an absolute majority vote of all Members of the National Assembly. (Article 98) Oversight * Shall have the right to propose questions to the Royal Government. The replies by the ministers or by the Prime Minister may be given orally or in writing. The replies shall be provided within seven days after the day the question is received. (Article 96) * Oversee royal government performance and invite high-ranking officials to clarify important special issues to the National Assembly. (Article 89) * The commissions of the National Assembly may invite any minister to clarify issues in fields under his/her responsibility. (Article 97) * Oversee the law enforcement. Representative * The Members of the National Assembly shall represent all the Khmer people, not only citizens from their constituencies. (Article 77) * Play an important role in helping citizens have their voice in society and to bring people’s concern and needs for decisions to the National Assembly. * Intervene and solve problems faced by citizens. * Member of Parliament have the right to express opinions in the exercise of his/her duties protected by “Parliamentary Immunity” and shall not be prosecuted, detained or arrested because of opinions expressed in the exercise of his/her duties, except in case of flagrante delicto offences. (Article 80)

Commissions

Composition

Elections

''See most recent election at: 2018 Cambodian general election''

References

External links

National Assembly Homepage (in Khmer)

{{Authority control 1993 establishments in Cambodia

Parliament of Cambodia