What does the Cambodian Senate presidency mean to a ruler who is already all powerful? Every politician, especially one whose chokehold over a country lasted nearly four decades, needs some time off. Hun Sen, who handed over the prime ministership of Cambodia to his eldest son last summer, has had his feet up for the past seven… Continue reading Vacation is over for Cambodian strongman Hun Sen
The country’s government views the press as an adjunct of power. There’s a polite warning about throwing stones in glass houses. There’s a more impolite instruction to know the extent of one’s own ignorance. In perusing the Phnom Penh Post’s recent piece (“PM calls for ‘ethical fourth estate’,” January 23), one is compelled to scrutinize what emanated… Continue reading Aren’t Cambodia’s Journalists Tired Of Being Spoken Down To?
There are signs of growing tensions between the country’s private sector and its rentier political elite. It’s unclear what reform Prime Minister Hun Manet announced – or whether there was an announcement at all. He’s adamant on what hasn’t happened: his government isn’t about to start selling land to foreigners. But it sounds a lot… Continue reading In Cambodia, Foreigners Cannot Own Land. Or Can They?
Private debt, much of it concentrated in the rapidly deflating real estate sector, has already emerged as a political problem for Prime Minister Hun Manet. Not all is well in the Kingdom of Hun. Hun Manet, Cambodia’s new prime minister, who inherited the role from his father in August, prepares to meet with the business community on… Continue reading Will Cambodia’s Private Debt Become National Debt?
At a mass rally on 1 July 2023, with campaigning underway for Cambodia’s upcoming general election, Prime Minister Hun Sen symbolically handed over the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) flag to his eldest son — Hun Manet — who is expected to soon succeed him as premier. While Norodom Sihanouk is remembered as Cambodia’s ‘King Father’, Hun… Continue reading Cambodia transits from ‘strongman’ Hun Sen to ‘strongson’ Hun Manet
