Council of the Magistracy. This request was reportedly rejected by the government for reasons not stated, but it was eventually later accepted, of which Sihamoni went on to grant a full pardon to Chakra in 2010. General election 2013 and aftermath In the lead-up to the 2013 Cambodian general election, Sihamoni at the request of the government, granted a royal pardon which enabled then Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy, who had been in self-imposed exile since 2009, to partake in the election which was welcomed by the United Nations. Prior to the pardoning, Rainsy had founded himself in legal jeopardy once again due to another politically-motivated charge brought against him arising from an incident in 2009. When the election outcome became disputed between the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) and opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), the subsequent aftermath resulted in the 2013–2014 Cambodian protests. Consequently, in what is regarded as the first time he had intervened directly to try to resolve a political dispute, the King attempted to play a mediating role and urged for national reconciliation, by exercising his moral authority to facilitate talks between the two party leaders, Rainsy and Prime Minister Hun Sen, imploring a de-escalation of tensions and for the parties to find common ground towards a resolution regarding their issues, which eventually they settled. After this, Sihamoni encouraged the two sides to "continue to work together for the sake of stability, development and national unity" and for a time, there was a 'culture of dialogue' between the rival political parties. This period of dialogue was relatively short-lived as tensions soon manifested again that culminated in the dissolution of the CNRP in late 2017 and the reallocation of the party’s seats that they won in the 2013 elections to other political parties in concurrence with the gradual persecution of members associated with CNRP. Controversial legislations In the same year, a piece of legislation was introduced, named the Political Parties Law, that human rights organisations saw was a means of further curtailing the power of the opposition in the run-up to the 2018 Cambodian general election. When it came to the formalization of this law through the required royal assent, Sihamoni was coincidentally overseas, thereby delegating the royal assent duties to the President of the Senate, who constitutionally serves as the acting head of state in the King’s absence. This then prompted speculation as to whether there