Hun Sen's succession plan: Cambodian PM backs son to take over

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Dec 3, 2021, 1:49:11 AM12/3/21
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Hun Sen's succession plan: Cambodian PM backs son to take over

Ruling family moves to secure dynasty as opposition fractures

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen, right, has backed his son, Hun Manet, to succeed him.(Source photos by Reuters)

PHNOM PENH -- Hopes for reviving competitive democracy in Cambodia faded further this week as the country's largest opposition force publicly fractured and Prime Minister Hun Sen explicitly backed his eldest son, a military general, to succeed him as leader.

After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy West Point in 1999, Hun Manet quickly rose through the ranks of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. He has long been seen as his father's anointed heir.

In a speech on Thursday, the strongman leader dispelled any doubt about his desire to see the 44-year-old, who was appointed commander of the army in 2018, take over the position that he has held for more than three decades.

"I announce today that I support my son to be prime minister but it has to go through elections," Hun Sen said, according to government-aligned outlet Fresh News.

In his clearest comments on his plans for succession to date, Hun Sen also dismissed the notion of any of his contemporaries taking the top job, which he said he planned to hold for another 10 years.

He directed his remarks to Interior Minister Sar Kheng, who was on the dais, suggesting the deputy PM, long seen by pundits as a potential leader, would be too old by 2028 and that power should pass to the younger generation of the ruling Cambodian People's Party.

The PM's remarks quickly sparked a mass outpouring of support by CPP loyalists including ministers and military leaders who, despite the armed forces ostensibly being politically neutral according to Cambodia's laws, endorsed Manet's candidacy.

Hun Sen also defended his plan by referring to hereditary politicians in Japan -- a country that has had 20 prime ministers since the Cambodian leader was first appointed prime minister in 1985.

"Even Japan has its own dynasty, like [former Prime Minister] Abe. His grandfather was prime minister and he had visited Cambodia. Abe's father was a foreign minister and Abe was a prime minister," Hun Sen said.

If the scion does become the next prime minister, Cambodia would join countries like North Korea, Azerbaijan, Syria, Togo, and Chad, where current leaders were directly transferred power from their fathers.

Sam Rainsy (center right), president of the National Rescue Party and Kem Sokha (center left), vice president of the party, greet supporters in Phnom Penh on July 19, 2013.   © Reuters

The CPP faces no credible electoral threat following the forced dissolution of the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party by the politically controlled judiciary in 2017.

The CNRP, created in 2012 through a merger of political parties led by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha, shocked Cambodia's entrenched elite when they almost won the 2013 national election and sparked major street protests against the CPP's claimed victory.

After a strong showing in 2017 local elections, CNRP was banned, with Sokha being arrested and charged with treason. Rainsy fled to France in 2015 to avoid arrest, and he and most senior leaders now operate from abroad.

Grassroots members in the country have faced a sustained crackdown with dozens jailed. At least 44 are due in court next week on charges of incitement and plotting against the government. Recently, a CNRP member in Phnom Penh was fatally slashed in suspicious circumstances.

In a further blow to the group's supporters, the CNRP this week appeared to fracture down the factional lines of its founders.

While their alliance has long been riven with internal tensions, the relationship between Rainsy and Sokha descended into public acrimony as resentments spilled out on social media.

The cause of the rift appears to have been the revival of the Candlelight Party, a political group associated with Rainsy, which held a special congress this week, reportedly to prepare for contesting local elections scheduled for June next year.

In a message on Facebook, Sokha distanced himself from Rainsy, accusing his CNRP co-founder and his supporters of "abuse" by using his name and image for their political gain.

Sokha, who has been released from custody but banned from politics while waiting for his long-postponed trial to begin, says Rainsy had abandoned the CNRP's "original principles and spirit of unity."

In his own post, Rainsy suggested Sokha's post was made under duress by the government.

Sokha's daughters, however, took to social media to double down on their father's message, calling Rainsy deceitful and abusive.

Veteran political analyst Lao Mong Hay said the prime minister, who has long played the pair off against each other, would be pleased.

"It's not the end of the CNRP," he said. "It's spirit is still there, though the PM has achieved what he set out to achieve, the split between the two parties."

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