Back to Phnom Penh ...

 From a news cable:

PHNOM PENH - Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said Tuesday that the political problems in his country following July's general election that the opposition says was rigged are not serious.

"A solution to our problem here is only a matter of time. It's an old problem, not a new one," Hun Sen told Kyodo News, referring to similar problems experienced after each election since 1998.

Commenting on the parliamentary session boycott by the 55 elected parliamentarians from the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, he said, "When the time is ripe they will come."

Meanwhile, the CNRP has announced it will organise antigovernment rallies on Dec 10 and 15 in the country's northern tourist hub of Siem Reap and in the capital Phnom Penh.

To date, the CNRP has organised several mass rallies in Phnom Penh, denouncing the election results and demanding a probe into election irregularities.

Hun Sen said the current political problems can be easily solved once the opposition's demands are reasonable, stressing that requests such as an equal number of parliamentary commission heads was out of the question.

CNRP lawmaker Nhem Ponharith said Tuesday that his party would organise mass rallies even before Dec 10 and continue to stage protests every Sunday in Phnom Penh.

CNRP leader Sam Rainsy and his deputy Kem Sokha have been calling on democratic countries not to recognise Hun Sen's government, with the prime minister calling their appeals for outside intervention ineffective, stressing that their actions have no effect whatsoever on his government.

The premier said he believes the cause for their continued boycott is due to the CNRP's internal problems including power sharing.

The CNRP is an electoral alliance between the Sam Rainsy Party and the Human Rights Party, and it remains unclear which faction will provide the first vice chair of the National Assembly.

Hun Sen said his ruling Cambodian People's Party is still open to holding dialogue with the opposition to find a solution.

In the election on July 28, the CPP won 68 seats in the 123-seat National Assembly, while the CNRP won 55 seats.