PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s leader has responded angrily to threats of nationwide demonstrations by the opposition, saying they could sink any chances of resolving political differences through negotiations.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech to graduating students Monday that the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party should speak politely and make a positive gesture if they want to ease tensions.

The opposition complains that it is being harassed by politically influenced courts, forcing party leader Sam Rainsy to stay in exile to avoid jail and his deputy Kem Sokha to take refuge behind supporters at party headquarters, where armed state security forces have been staging shows of strength. Kem Sokha says the party is considering calling for nationwide protests to force the government to ease the pressure. </s> PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - Cambodia’s parliament voted on Monday to allow a court investigation into an opposition leader accused of procuring a prostitute, a vote that could push the country closer to political turmoil.

The case of the opposition leader, Kem Sokha, and his alleged assignation has dominated politics for weeks and has raised tension in the run-up to a 2018 election that could prove to be veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen’s most serious test at the ballot box.

Opponents of Hun Sen say the self-styled strongman is using the judiciary to neutralize his opponents. The government denies that.

Kem Sokha is acting chief of the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP).

Party leader Sam Rainsy, a former finance minister, lives in self-exile to avoid arrest for an old defamation case he was pardoned for. His party has denounced the new warrant as politically motivated.

All 68 members of parliament from Hun Sen’s ruling Cambodian People’s Party voted to allow a court to proceed with an investigation into Kem Sokha stemming from a secretly recorded, and leaked, telephone conversation between him and a woman who the government says he was having an illicit affair with.

Prostitution was made illegal in Cambodia in 2008 even though it is widespread.

Kem Sokha has neither confirmed nor denied having an affair with the woman and has dismissed the action against him as politically motivated. He has ignored court summonses, most recently last Thursday.

Trade unions allied with the CNRP have called for protests if Kem Sokha is arrested.

“The CNRP wants Cambodia to be ruled by rule of law and a multi-party democracy,” Son Chhay, a senior CNRP lawmaker, told a news conference.

The party said Monday’s vote was unconstitutional.

The last election in 2013 marked Hun Sen’s toughest electoral challenge in three decades of rule and the opposition is expected to mount a sterner test next time as younger voters seek change.

Hun Sen has warned that an election victory for the opposition would see a return to civil war.

The United Nations on Sunday voiced alarm at the escalating tension between Hun Sen’s party and the opposition, in particular the arrest or attempted arrest of politicians. </s> Cambodian opposition leader Kem Sokha was arrested in Phnom Penh early on Sunday and the government of veteran Prime Minister Hun Sen said he was accused of treason.

The government said in a statement it had a video clip and other evidence that pointed to "secret plans of conspiracy between Kem Sokha, others and foreigners to harm the Kingdom of Cambodia".

"The above act of this secret conspiracy is treason," the statement said.

Tension has been growing in the Southeast Asian country in the run-up to a general election next year in which the opposition party has been expected to pose a strong challenge to Hun Sen's rule of more than three decades.

Hun Sen is a former Khmer Rouge member who has become one of China's closest regional allies and has been making increasingly strident verbal attacks on the United States.

Kem Sokha's daughter Monovithya Kem, who is also an official in his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), said on Twitter that Kem Sokha and his bodyguards had been taken away.

"Kem Sokha is in police custody at city hall. Handcuffed. No arrest warrant. After 100-200 police raided and vandalised his home," she said.

Fresh News, a pro-government website, earlier said it had video of Kem Sokha discussing overthrowing Hun Sen with support from the United States.

It showed a picture of him being led away in handcuffs.

Kem Sokha made no immediate comment and it was not clear if he had legal representation at this stage.

Last month Hun Sen's government stepped up attacks on the media, halting broadcasts by some radio stations and ordering an independent newspaper, The Cambodia Daily, to close if it did not pay a $6m tax bill within days.

The government also increased its rhetoric against the United States and ordered the expulsion of the US State Department-funded National Democratic Institute pro-democracy group.

READ MORE: Hun Sen rival Sam Rainsy resigns for 'sake of party'

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won local elections in June, although the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party fared reasonably well, increasing expectations of a close contest in the general election.

Kem Sokha took over the party leadership after his predecessor, Sam Rainsy, resigned in February. Rainsy said he quit to save the party in the face of a threatened ban on any party with a leader who has been convicted of a crime.

Rainsy lives in exile in France to avoid a defamation conviction he says was politically motivated. </s> Cambodian authorities have been accused of orchestrating a crackdown on critics of prime minister Hun Sen’s government after a prominent opposition leader was arrested and an independent newspaper closed down.

Kem Sokha, the leader of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party was arrested in a police raid in the early hours of Sunday morning. He was later charged with treason.

Kem Sokha had spoken with “American and Canadian professors” about how to instigate a revolution in Cambodia “with similar strategy as that done in Yugoslavia,” Cambodian authorities said in a statement released via Fresh News, a pro-government website.

Later on Sunday, the Cambodia Daily, an independent English-language newspaper published since 1993, said it was closing after it failed to pay a tax bill of $6.3 million. </s> PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s leader responded angrily Monday to the opposition’s threat to hold nationwide demonstrations, saying such protests could sink any chances of resolving political differences through negotiations.

Prime Minister Hun Sen said in a speech to graduating students that the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party should speak politely and make a positive gesture if they want to ease tensions.

“To be clear about that, don’t threaten to stage a demonstration for the reason of seeking to resume negotiations. That is no way,” Hun Sen said. “I would be a dog if I were to negotiate (with you).”

He said the opposition should be speaking out in parliament, whose sessions it has stopped attending in protest at the ruling Cambodian People’s Party majority voting to lift the parliamentary immunity of its leaders, a move the opposition considers illegal.

The opposition complains of being harassed by politically influenced courts, after legal cases have forced party leader Sam Rainsy to stay in exile to avoid jail and his deputy Kem Sokha to take refuge behind supporters at party headquarters, where state security forces have gathered in armed shows of strength.

Critics of the government have seen its actions as an attempt to disrupt the opposition’s organizing efforts ahead of local elections next June. The next general election is not until mid-2018, but holding power at the local level is an advantage when national polls are held. Hun Sen has led Cambodia for three decades.

In response to the government actions, Kem Sokha said last week that the party is considering calling for nationwide protests. The opposition has strong support in the capital, and street demonstrations have traditionally been an effective form of push-back, but recent efforts to take to the streets have generally fizzled.

Hun Sen said that if talks were resumed with the opposition, the topics would exclude the legal cases of opposition members. He and his government insist these are criminal matters and not political issues.

A statement issued earlier this month by the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights expressed concern “about the escalating atmosphere of intimidation of opposition politicians, their supporters, civil society, and peaceful demonstrators in Cambodia.” A joint statement issued by several foreign embassies expressed similar concern.

Activists and non-governmental organizations, which are generally critical of the government, have faced similar legal pressures. The murder in July of a prominent social critic, Kem Ley, allegedly by a man to whom he owed money, is widely regarded with suspicion.

On Monday, four prominent land activists were convicted and sentenced to six months each in prison for a protest they held five years ago.

The four women — Tep Vanny, Heng Mom, Bou Chhovy and Kong Chantha — are well known for protesting the eviction of residents from Phnom Penh’s Boeung Kak lake community, which was to be turned into a luxury commercial development. They were convicted of insulting and obstructing civil servants.

The Boeung Kak protesters are among the most tireless of the government’s critics.
Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen says that he will continue his campaign against protests from the Cambodian opposition while Kem Sokha of the Cambodian National Rescue Party vows to remain as their leader.