Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures after
casting his ballot in local elections at Ta Khmau town, in Kandal
province, some 15 kilometers south of Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Photo: AP
Phnom Penh: Hun Sen is not bothering to
campaign ahead of contesting his fifth election in 28 years, such is his
domination of Cambodia's state power.
A scripted victory for the strongman prime minister and
Asia's longest serving leader on Sunday appears assured amid threats and
intimidation against his political opponents and a powerful system of
patronage networks and alliances that back him.
But the election also exposes deep-rooted nepotism
undermining democratic processes that were installed by the United
Nations two decades ago as the country emerged from civil war and
genocide, analysts say.
The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), the organisation
Mr Hun Sen has used to relentlessly amass power, is fielding at least 10
candidates who are the children of party leaders, including the prime
minister's youngest son Hun Many, 31, and his son-in-law Dy Vichea, 32.
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Mr Hun Many is already the deputy chief of cabinet and the head of a national student movement.
While 61 year-old Mr Hun Sen has declared he will lead the
country until retirement in his mid-70s he has also made clear he is
intent on building a political dynasty.
In 2011 he surprised observers when he appointed the eldest
of his six children, Hun Manet, as a two-star general and infantry
commander at the age of only 33.
General Hun Manet, who Mr Hun Sen has publicly suggested
holds divine powers, is now a deputy commander of his father's crack
3000-strong bodyguard unit and head of the National Counterterrorism
Taskforce.
He is a graduate of West Point military academy in the United
States and holds an economics doctorate from Britain's Bristol
University.
Mr Hun Sen's second son Hun Manith is the deputy head of
Cambodia's intelligence unit and is also seen as having a rapid rise
through the military to the rank of general.
The presence of three of Mr Hun Sen's US-military trained
sons in key CPP and army positions is an insurance policy against any
challenge to the power he has built on a brand of populism, nationalism
and cronyism but which includes human rights abuses and restrictions on
people's freedoms, analysts say.
In June the CPP stripped all 27 opposition MPs of their parliamentary status, rendering them ineligible to run in the elections.
Since then Mr Hun Sen has warned civil war would erupt unless
his party was re-elected and launched personal attacks on deputy
opposition leader Kem Sokha, accusing him on adultery and paedophilia,
among other crimes, without presenting any evidence.
Mr Hun Sen, a one-time Khmer Rouge guerrilla who became a
cunning political tactician, arranged a royal pardon for exiled
opposition leader Sam Rainsy, allowing him return to Cambodia last week
to reinvigorate the opposition's last minute campaigning without having
to go to jail on criminal convictions he insists were politically
motivated.
The move helped neutralise criticism of Mr Hun Sen's
autocratic rule by foreign nations over land grabbing, military
brutality against civilians, child labour and attacks on community
activists.
Half of his budget comes in the form of overseas aid.
It also prompted spontaneous scenes of tens of thousands of
excited young Rainsy supporters, many of them waving flags with a rising
sun logo, raising opposition party hopes they can improve on the
combined 29 seats they won in the 123-seat parliament in 2008, perhaps
wiping out Mr Hun Sen's two-thirds majority that allows him to change
the constitution.
The show of democratic enthusiasm stirred tensions in the capital that was emptied by the murderous Khmer Rouge in 1975.
The other day a mob of young regimented supporters of the CPP
rushed on to a street near Mr Hun Sen's $3 million mansion and
attempted to drag away the rider of tuk tuk motor cycle taxi I was
travelling in.
The reason? He dared have a Sam Rainsy sticker on his vehicle.
"It's political intimidation," seethed a long-time Cambodian newspaper editor, who was sitting beside me.
The US-based Center for Strategic and International Studies
predicts in an election briefing paper that while Mr Hun Sen will win
overwhelmingly his sons "would be wise to pay attention to the
trajectory of South-East Asian politics."
"Strong arming, corruption, intimidation and a refusal to
play by the rules will not secure votes forever, likely not even for
long," the paper said.
2 comments:
Hun's Dynasty will end !!!
Yes Hun's dies-Nasty will te'Orng because Hanoi can't afford to loses Nam-baodai to Democratic NCRP.The three sons fit right for Yuon's Te'orng like in the era of Vinh Te cannal.
Krom plich Te org! All Khmers.
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