PHNOM PENH: Cambodian leader Hun Sen’s eldest son and chosen successor hailed “victory day” in a final rambunctious rally on Friday, ahead of one-sided elections that his father’s ruling party is guaranteed to win.
Hun Manet might take over the prime minister’s post as soon as next month, following a surprise revelation made by his father this week.
One of the world’s longest-serving rulers, Hun Sen has played off tensions between the United States and China to buttress his grip on power, and critics say that more than 30 years after UN-brokered peace accords ended decades of bloody conflict, his rule has left Cambodian democracy in a sorry state.
On Friday a crowd of tens of thousands of supporters on motorbikes, dressed in bright blue, gathered under grey skies to hear Hun Manet’s speech before he roared off in a huge celebratory motorcade parade around Phnom Penh.
It was the final rally before Sunday’s election, in which all meaningful opposition has either been disqualified or exiled, leaving voters no choice but to hand Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) a majority in the 125-member parliament.
“Today is a victory day for us,” Hun Manet said under a giant poster of his father, urging supporters to vote for the ruling party.
“Only the CPP has the ability to lead Cambodia.”
“We will promote the national pride of our nation to the heights of the Angkor era,” he said, as rain began falling on the crowd.
It had been widely expected that the US- and British-educated Hun Manet, 45, would take over from his father, who has ruled Cambodia for nearly four decades, but no timeframe had previously been given.
"In three or four weeks, Hun Manet can become the prime minister. It depends on whether Hun Manet will be able to do it or not," Hun Sen said in an interview with Phoenix TV of China that was aired on Thursday.
Last month, he had said that either he or his son could be prime minister when a new government is formed in late August.
International observers have condemned the upcoming election’s lack of any real opposition.
The Candlelight Party, the CPP’s only credible rival, was barred from running over registration technicalities, a ruling that Amnesty International said Friday “amounted to a politically motivated decision”.
Fading hope
“When the Candlelight Party cannot participate in the election, it is not going to be free and fair,” Rong Chhun, vice-president of the party, told AFP.
Without the Candlelight Party, voters had no choice but to back Hun Sen’s ruling party, he said.
“Our hope for a real democracy is fading away,” opposition supporter Vanna, 30, told AFP at a cafe.
He declined to give his full name, one of many ordinary citizens who are increasingly nervous about criticising the government.
“I think it is another very unfair election.”
The CPP’s campaigning — and the tiny presence of small, poorly funded opposition parties — was a weak smokescreen allowing Hun Sen to claim the election was legitimate, said Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch.
“When in reality he’s done everything possible to make sure he faces no real opposition whatsoever,” Robertson said.
Critics say Hun Sen’s 38-year rule has been marked by environmental destruction, entrenched corruption and uneven economic growth — with the country now a byword for the global online scamming industry.
But in recent years, the 70-year-old leader has begun to look to his legacy, and cement his control with the voters.
The best candidate?
The Cambodian princeling has become more of a presence as his father begins to pull back.
At Friday’s rally, supporters with stickers on their cheeks expressed hope for Hun Manet’s leadership.
“I believe that he will not mistreat our people, and he will find whatever may be prosperous for Cambodia,” Chin Chhivleap, 34, told AFP.
“For me, Hun Manet is the best candidate for prime minister because I don’t see anybody else better than him.”
Speaking under the shadow of construction cranes as a pony ridden by a supporter clopped by, supporters said his education abroad would improve Cambodia.
But analysts are sceptical of any real changes under the 45-year-old, whenever he may take over — with Hun Sen reassuring voters he would continue guiding his son.
“The best case scenario is that a Hun Manet administration will permit a cowed opposition party like the Candlelight Party to participate in elections, without any real chance of winning,” Sebastian Strangio, author of a book about Hun Sen’s rule, told AFP.
“The future for the Cambodian opposition is dim.”