Thirty-eight lawmakers are due to take their seats in the National Assembly on Wednesday to replace those from the previous mandate who had resigned in order to take up other posts in the government.

Parliament spokesman Leng Peng Long said the National Assembly would accept the new members in a ceremony.

“On Wednesday morning 38 people will be confirmed as new lawmakers, and in the evening those 38 new assembly members will be sworn into office,” he said.

The chairman of the National Assembly’s Commission of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Information and Media, Chheang Vun, told reporters after a meeting at the commission on Monday, that the National Assembly will endorse the 38 members-in-waiting after the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) lawmakers resigned to take up other positions in government.

“[On Monday morning], the National Assembly’s Permanent Committee prepared for the opening of the National Assembly on Wednesday where legitimacy will be granted to the replacements of those who resigned from [parliament] to work in the Cabinet of the Prime Minister or as secretaries of state.

“There need to be changes to replace those who have taken up other government positions,” Vun said.

He rejected accusations of a one-party system by saying there were 20 parties running in the July 29 national elections, while the huge turnout showed the people’s faith in Cambodia’s democratic system.