Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen on Monday walked back recent statements vowing exclusive support for the candidacy of his son to someday replace him in office, saying the contest is still open, Cambodian sources said.<\/p>\n
Analysts said that Hun Sen, who has held power in Cambodia for more than 35 years, may have softened his stance over fear of provoking a damaging rift within his ruling Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP).<\/p>\n
Speaking on Monday at the opening of a new national road in southeastern Cambodia\u2019s Prey Veng province, Hun Sen said that he himself will run for reelection in any case in 2023.<\/p>\n
Hun Sen\u2019s son Hun Manet, 44, will not be eligible to run for the country\u2019s top political job until 2028, he said, adding that the CPP at that time should have at least four candidates contending for the post.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can say that Hun Manet will be one of the candidates. This does not mean that he\u2019ll be the only candidate,\u201d Hun Sen said.<\/p>\n
He also urged the son of the current Defense Minister Tea Banh, the son of Interior Minister Sar Kheng, and the son of the National Assembly\u2019s first vice-president Cheam Yeap to compete for the position.<\/p>\n
\u201cTheir opportunity to run will not come before 2028, though, and will probably be sometime between 2028, 2029, and 2030. They will have to wait,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Following Hun Sen\u2019s statement, Sar Kheng\u2019s son Sar Sokha, who now serves as secretary of state for Cambodia\u2019s Ministry of Education, quickly issued his own endorsement for Hun Manet \u2014 who already commands Cambodia\u2019s army as a three-star general \u2014 to be Cambodia\u2019s next prime minister.<\/p>\n
Cambodian political analyst Kim Sok, now living in exile in Finland, said that Hun Sen\u2019s retreat from endorsing his son at a public event last week to someday succeed him shows concern over unrest within the CPP.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was normal, when Hun Sen raised this matter publicly before, for Sar Kheng, who was sitting behind him in the ceremony, not to express any public opposition,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut Hun Sen now has to release some of this tension so that the public will not feel that Cambodia is following the example of North Korea by establishing a family dynasty.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hun Sen\u2019s own position as prime minister is not fully legitimate, Kim Sok said, adding that by elevating Hun Manet to high office, Hun Sen may only be subjecting his son to unwelcome international scrutiny.<\/p>\n
Based on party ranking order, Sar Kheng should succeed Hun Sen as prime minister in any case, said U.S.-based Cambodian political analyst So Naro.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike it or not, it should be Sar Kheng who receives the transfer of power,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Sok Ey San, spokesman for the CPP, denied the existence of any tension within the ruling party, saying Cambodian opposition groups have pointed to what he called imagined rifts within the CPP for more than 40 years.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no division at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cambodia\u2019s Supreme Court dissolved the country\u2019s main opposition party, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, in November 2017 over an alleged plot backed by the United States to topple the government.<\/p>\n
The move to ban the CNRP was part of a wider crackdown by Hun Sen on political opponents, NGOs, and the independent media that paved the way for the Cambodian People\u2019s Party to win all 125 seats in the country\u2019s July 2018 general election.<\/p>\n
Reported by RFA\u2019s Khmer Service. Translated by Sovannarith Keo. Written in English by Richard Finney.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n \n \n
\r\nThis content originally appeared on Radio Free Asia<\/a> and was authored by Radio Free Asia.
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