By DPA
Phnom Penh : Cambodia officially opened its new $24 million National Assembly Saturday in a lavish traditional Buddhist ceremony presided over by King Norodom Sihamoni and seven of the nation's most venerable Buddhist monks.
With 7,777 guests in attendance, the timing of the opening to coincide with the anniversary of factional fighting in 1997, which ousted the then first prime minister and Funcinpec leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh, was almost certainly for its astrological significance rather than irony.
Cambodian People's Party (CPP) lawmaker Cheam Yeap declared that 2007 was the anniversary of the democracy that was established in Cambodia in late 1946. Observers noted that single parties dominated Cambodia during Prince Norodom Sihanouk's rule from 1953 until UN-organized elections in 1993.
The new National Assembly was built entirely by Cambodians from architectural design to construction, using only Cambodian funding, Cheam Yeap added.
King Sihamoni said the new building was "a great monument to Cambodia's idealism and commitment" to democracy.
Neither the CPP nor its junior coalition partner Funcinpec marked the anniversary of the July 5 and 6 fighting, which left hundreds dead, saying that was in the past. Instead they turned their full attention to Saturday's ceremony.
A public museum inside the National Assembly includes a remarkably record of Cambodia's strides towards its current multi-party democracy, with a roll call of parliamentarians from 1946 onward listing 10 names of the Khmer Rouge's Democratic Kampuchea (DK) regime leaders.
Brother Number 2, Nuon Chea, who is expected to be a prime candidate to face impending $56-million dollar joint Cambodia-UN trials of former leaders of the regime, tops the list rather than the movement's deceased leader Pol Pot. It was unclear why only 10 of 250 DK parliamentarians' names were recorded.
Saturday's ceremony was attended by the nation's parliamentarians and senators from all parties, as well as a range of dignitaries and representatives from foreign embassies.
Although the building is extensively and almost exclusively decorated with prime examples of Cambodian artwork, one tribute from a foreign nation was prominently displayed during the opening tour – a gift of a large painting of the Great Wall of China presented by the Chinese government just days before the inauguration.