Phnom Penh: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defense, General Tea Seiha, is firmly committed to implementing the military conscription law with transparency and accountability.
After participating in the 5th session to review and provide comments on the draft military conscription law on May 20, 2026, General Tea Seiha said that the law will be approved with transparency and accountability, while the Royal Government will have a series of sub-decrees to protect the new generation of youth to effectively implement military conscription, especially to provide opportunities for the new generation of youth to contribute to national defense and the homeland.
The General said that young people in military service are not a burden, but rather an opportunity for them to participate in defending the nation and the homeland from emergencies or enemy aggression. In addition, young people in military service will receive additional training that can become the nation’s human resources and a force to further contribute to the national defense sector. He stressed that the law on military conscription will not have negative effects that affect the economic, social and cultural sectors of Cambodia.
The Minister of National Defense stated that “we will implement this law in a transparent and accountable manner as requested by members of the Senate. In this regard, we will issue a series of sub-decrees to protect the new generation of young people who will effectively perform military duty.”
Please note that the draft law on military conscription, consisting of 8 chapters and 20 articles, has been updated through a new draft law, which was fully approved by the plenary meeting of the Council of Ministers on April 23, 2026 and passed by the National Assembly in an extraordinary session on May 12, 2026, under the chairmanship of Samdech Prime Minister Hun Sen. The Senate reviewed and unanimously approved the draft law without amendment by 58 votes of the entire Senate.
