PHNOM PENH, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Cambodia on Wednesday decided to stop the operation of the U.S.-funded National Democratic Institute (NDI) in the country and ordered its foreign staff to leave Cambodia within a week, the foreign ministry said in a statement.
"The Cambodian competent authorities, with the purpose to assure the strict implementation and the effectiveness of the country's laws..., have reached the decision to stop the operation of the National Democratic Institute (NDI) in Cambodia and to expel its foreign staff from the Kingdom within seven days after the official notification of this decision," the statement said.
The ministry accused NDI of violating the country's Law on Associations and Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) which was adopted by the parliament in July 2015 and promulgated by the king in 2015.
"Since this Law came into force in Aug. 2015, NDI has operated in Cambodia without being registered with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation until the organization filed a request for the registration on June 21, 2016," it said. "Pending the Ministry's decision on its application, NDI has continued carrying out its activities with total contempt."
The statement said that Article 34 of the Law on Associations and NGOs allowed the competent authorities to take measures to immediately stop any foreign association or NGO that conducted its activities without registration or a memorandum of understanding.
It added that NDI had also violated Cambodia's tax law since it had not registered its staff with the tax administration within 15 days of beginning operations in the country.
The decision came just days after NDI was accused of providing the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party with an "ill-intended" plan to overthrow the government.
According to the statement, the ministry also called on all foreign associations and NGOs to comply with the country's laws, or they would face the same fate as NDI.
"While this decision has been made with NDI and its foreign staff, the competent authorities are geared up to take the same measures against any foreign association or NGO that fails to abide by the Law on the Associations and NGOs as well as other laws of the Kingdom of Cambodia," it said.
