Challenging Cambodia's strongman Hun Sen

Security forces have acted with unusual restraint since daily protests
began [Philip Heijmans/Al Jazeera]

PM faces first real test of political strength in 16 years as opposition grows increasingly bold.
Kevin Doyle Jazeera: 01 Jan 2014 

Phnom Penh, Cambodia - Belying his hard-earned reputation as his country's strongman, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said years ago that his prowess in overcoming adversaries did not lie in his strength, but in their weakness.

Hun Sen, 61, has ruled Cambodia for close to 30 years, but now he faces the first real test of his strength in a decade and a half. Hun Sen is face-to-face with a challenger of a very different kind - people power - and one that he crushed violently during his last encounter with mass street demonstrations in 1998.

Weeks of street rallies continue against his leadership, with a recent protest estimated to have drawn as many as 50,000 people representing all segments of Cambodian society, including garment factory workers and impoverished rural farmers. They marched on the streets of the capital Phnom Penh banging drums, blowing whistles and chanting the slogan "Hun Sen, get out".

The prime minister's feared security forces have kept a vigilant but low profile since the opposition Cambodian National Rescue Party (CNRP) called for daily street rallies on December 15.

They were ready to mobilise: several hundred riot and military police, decked out in science-fiction-like body armour suits, helmets and riot shields, bided their time awaiting orders at the train station in Phnom Penh. Water cannon trucks were lined up alongside dozens of steel frames wrapped with razor wire to seal off streets.

A small fleet of police trucks have been modified with steel-mesh frames around the driver's cabin that offers protection from projectiles.

The forces allied on both sides are formidable: The CNRP's supporters have mounted daily rallies of up to 20,000 people calling for fresh elections following disputed polls in July, which were riddled with irregularities and returned a majority of votes for Hun Sen's long-ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP).

Although accusing the CPP of stealing the election, the CNRP still won a substantial 55 parliamentary seats compared to the CPP's 68, which was a loss of 22 members of parliament for the ruling party.

'Resign'

More recently, the opposition party has also demanded that Hun Sen resign. "I would like Hun Sen to come out and face the people," shouted Kem Sokha, the CNRP's deputy president, over a loudspeaker as he led tens of thousands of people on a slow, noisy march recently through Phnom Penh. "We demand a re-election. We absolutely do not need Hun Sen to lead an illegitimate government in 2014."

Later, at the opposition's base camp at the public square known as Freedom Park, Kem Sokha had this message for the prime minister: "Don't think that we are afraid. We're not scared of dying, but of losing our nation."

Following Kem Sokha on the stage, CNRP President Sam Rainsy called on civil servants to break ranks with the ruling party and join the opposition. "Any official arrested for supporting the CNRP will be a hero," he said to wild cheers from the crowd.