Prime Minister Hun Sen said it was “highly probable” that Cambodia would have a new leader after his ruling party won a landslide vote over the weekend critics described as neither free nor fair.
(Bloomberg) — Prime Minister Hun Sen said it was “highly probable” that Cambodia would have a new leader after his ruling party won a landslide vote over the weekend critics described as neither free nor fair.
Hun Sen is widely expected to pass the reins over to his West Point-educated son Hun Manet after telling China’s Phoenix TV in a rare interview before the elections that the succession could take place “within three or four weeks.”
Those plans appear to be on track after he said on Wednesday he was delaying plans to visit factory workers in order to form a new government that would in all likelihood feature the first new head of state in nearly 40 years.
“It is the duty of the new government to know the well-being of the people and the factory,” he said in a voice message posted on the government’s official Telegram channel. He also plans to elaborate on the matter at an event on Aug. 3.
Hun Manet, 45, contested in the elections for the first time after rising through the armed forces ranks to become a four-star general. He was among the children of the ruling elite serving in positions of power as the government transitions from the old guard to the new generation for the first time since a rebellion against the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Phay Siphan, the main government spokesman, told Bloomberg News there’s no concrete time for the succession and any new government would need the constitutional approval of the King first before it can take shape.
“I assume that the transition is going to be smooth,” he said.
Preliminary results show the Cambodian People’s Party nearly swept the vote on Sunday, winning 120 of 125 seats up for grabs in the National Assembly, after the main opposition was barred from participating for a second time. The vote was criticized by some western nations, and triggered the US to impose visa restrictions on individuals “who undermined democracy and implemented a pause of certain foreign assistance programs.”
“Cambodian authorities engaged in a pattern of threats and harassment against the political opposition, media, and civil society that undermined the spirit of the country’s constitution and Cambodia’s international obligations,” US State Department Matthew Miller said over the weekend.
Cambodia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation touted the election as “a true reflection of the country’s democratic maturity.” Chinese President Xi Jinping as Hun Sen’s biggest backer abroad, congratulated him in a letter saying Cambodia had “achieved political stability.”
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