Cambodia has claimed that MOU 43, between Cambodia and Thailand, cannot be revoked unilaterally by either of the two parties to it, because the document has already been registered with the United Nations and constitutes an international agreement ‘equivalent to a treaty’.
This statement was made by Seng Dyna, secretary of state and spokesman for Cambodia’s Ministry of Justice, as reported by AKP News in Phnom Penh on Tuesday, in response to Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s remark that he would like MOUs 43 and 44 to be terminated.
Seng Dyna, Secretary of State and Spokesman of the Ministry of Justice. KT/Pann Rachana // Khmer Times' website
Seng Dyna noted that MOU 43 contains neither an expiration clause nor provision for a unilateral termination, adding that its terms remain in force until its purposes, specifically the survey and demarcation of the land boundary between Cambodia and Thailand, are fulfilled.
According to the “Por Liang J fr4om Mars” online program, aired in mid-September, MOU 43 was registered with the United Nations in 2001, during the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, without the consent of parliament, as is required under Section 190 of the Constitution, and completely without the public being aware.
Moreover, it was disclosed that the registration of MOU43 with the UN has become more problematic, because a 1:200,000 scale map, which Thailand has rejected, was attached to the document.
