US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Southeast Asia, Patrick Murphy speaks during a news conference in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Wednesday. (Reuters photo)PHNOM PENH: The United States has called on Cambodia to reverse steps that "backtracked on democracy" before a general election next year, a visiting US official said on Wednesday. Relations between Cambodia and the United States have hit their lowest in years after the arrest of a rival of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen, Kem Sokha, and the dissolution of his opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP). The opposition leader and the United States denied that. Murphy told reporters in Phnom Penh that Cambodia still had time before the general election in July to "conduct an electoral process that is legitimate".

Source: Bangkok Post December 13, 2017 09:22 UTC