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Cambodia PM unveils plan to favour son on path to power
After nearly four decades as Cambodian leader, Hun Sen goes into elections this weekend certain of victory and vowing to eventually hand power to his eldest son.
But the 70-year-old has given no timeframe for his dynastic succession and signalled he will continue to wield influence even after standing down.
Sunday’s vote is widely deemed a sham thanks to the near-total absence of genuine opposition parties, and critics say that more than 30 years after UN-brokered peace accords ended decades of bloody conflict, Cambodian democracy is in a sorry state.
“Nobody can block the steps forward of Hun Sen or Hun Manet,” the prime minister told voters in June.
“After Hun Sen, it will be Hun Manet.”
While no fixed date has been given for a transfer of power, Hun Manet, 45, has taken on a number of his father’s campaign duties this year.
In a highly symbolic gesture at a rally for the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) this month, Hun Sen passed the party flag to Hun Manet, who led a crowd of supporters on a march through Phnom Penh.
Hun Manet has also travelled around the country to preside over ceremonies and meet soldiers, workers and CPP members, repeating his father’s campaign mantras of peace and development.
“As long as the CPP continues to lead the country, can keep the peace and can keep balance, we all live with happiness,” he said in a clip posted to Telegram this month.
– ‘Like North Korea’ –
Phil Robertson of Human Rights Watch told AFP that the prospect of a dynastic handover “makes Cambodia look more like North Korea than a genuine democracy”.
Hun Sen has five children and has carved out political roles for all three of his sons, with the most senior responsibilities entrusted to his eldest.
Hun Manet, already a member of the CPP’s powerful permanent committee, will contest a parliamentary seat this weekend for the first time.
He has served as commander of the Royal Cambodian Army since 2018 and met with foreign dignitaries and world leaders including President Xi Jinping of China — Cambodia’s main ally and benefactor.
Hun Sen’s politics are shaped by his experiences of revolution and war as a young man during the genocidal Khmer Rouge regime.
Those privations moulded him into one of the most effective — and most ruthless — politicians of his generation and thrust him into the prime ministership in 1985, aged just 32.
He has since consolidated his power by co-opting, jailing, sidelining or effectively exiling any opponents.
By contrast, his son was raised in luxury and educated abroad, including at the US military academy West Point.
But a Western education is no guarantee of a more liberal approach, exiled politician Sam Rainsy, a longstanding foe of the prime minister, told AFP — pointing to Syria’s brutal Assad dynasty.
“Syria’s Bashar al-Assad is more educated than Hafez al-Assad, but the son is politically worse than the father,” he said.
Sebastian Strangio, author of a book about Hun Sen’s rule, told AFP that so far Hun Manet had shown “little evidence that he will introduce anything more than cosmetic reforms to the current political system”.
(FILES) General Hun Manet, commander of the Royal Cambodian Army and eldest son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, looks on during a promotion ceremony at the Ministry of National Defence in Phnom Penh on April 20, 2023. – Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen has for years made it clear that his eldest son Hun Manet — a four-star general educated in the United States and Britain — would replace him when he finally called time on nearly four decades of national leadership. (Photo by TANG CHHIN Sothy / AFP)
– ‘Golden spoon’ –
Without his father’s backing it is not clear Hun Manet would be able to make changes even if he wanted to.
And he remains untested in the political arena, said political analyst Ou Virak, comparing him to an unproven, if well trained, martial arts fighter.
“The problem is he’s been spoon-fed, mostly with a golden spoon,” Ou Virak told AFP.
“You put them in the ring, they are going to get knocked out first round. You have to allow them to fight, to spar, to survive,” he said.
Hun Sen, 70, was hospitalised for “exhaustion” in Singapore six years ago and was a heavy smoker for most of his life until recently kicking the habit.
But he has given no indication of exactly when he intends to step down and has also told voters he will continue to exert power after leaving his post.
“Although Hun Sen won’t be the prime minister, the political management will be still in the hands of Hun Sen,” said the leader, who habitually refers to himself in the third person in public speeches.
He told voters at the end of June not to worry and said he would not let his son damage the country.
“I am still the PM candidate, and my son is the future candidate.”
Sam Rainsy, who was banned on Monday from running for office for 25 years for urging people to spoil their ballots, told AFP that without “a new leader drawn from outside the Hun family”, there would be no change to Cambodia’s autocratic political system.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has declared that the era of armed and bank robberies in Lagos State is a thing of the past, attributing the success to the collaborative efforts between the police and the state government.
Egbetokun made this statement on Thursday during the 18th Annual Town Hall Meeting on Security organized by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF). He noted that since 2007, only one bank robbery had been successfully executed in the state, which occurred in 2014.
“There was a time when armed robbery and bank robbery were common in Lagos. However, I can confidently say that since 2007, only one bank robbery succeeded, and that was as far back as 2014. The days of armed robbery and bank robbery are gone,” he said.
The IGP commended the Lagos State Government for its consistent support, emphasizing the critical role it has played in maintaining security in the bustling economic hub of the nation. He highlighted the challenges posed by the state’s continuous internal migration, with thousands of people moving into Lagos daily, creating additional security demands.
“What we are doing here today is the usual assistance the state government has been giving to the police. Without this, we would have been overwhelmed with insecurity in Lagos State,” Egbetokun added.
At the event, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu further demonstrated his administration’s commitment to security by donating over 250 brand-new patrol vehicles, along with hardware, communication gadgets, and protective gear to the police.
In his address, Sanwo-Olu outlined the government’s efforts to scale up the use of technology and data for improved security and traffic monitoring. He revealed plans to deploy drone technology for surveillance of waterways and densely populated areas.
“The EGIS component of our mapping and digitalization has almost been completed. Lagos is now properly mapped, and drone technology will be deployed to enhance monitoring, crowd management, and traffic assessment. This will ensure real-time responses to incidents,” the governor explained.
Chad announced Thursday that it was ending military cooperation with former colonial power France, just hours after a visit by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot.
“The government of the Republic of Chad informs national and international opinion of its decision to end the accord in the field of defence signed with the French Republic,” foreign minister Abderaman Koulamallah said in a statement on Facebook.
Chad is a key link in France’s military presence in Africa, constituting Paris’s last foothold in the Sahel after the forced withdrawal of its troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
“This is not a break with France like Niger or elsewhere,” Koulamallah, whose country still hosts around a thousand French troops, told AFP.
At a press briefing after a meeting between President Mahamat Idriss Deby and Barrot, Koulamallah called France “an essential partner” but added it “must now also consider that Chad has grown up, matured and is a sovereign state that is very jealous of its sovereignty”.
Barrot, who arrived in Ethiopia on Thursday evening, could not immediately be reached for comment.
– ‘Historic turning point’-
Chad is the last Sahel country to host French troops.
It has been led by Deby since 2021, when his father Idriss Deby Itno was killed by rebels after 30 years in power.
The elder Deby frequently relied on French military support to fend off rebel offensives, including in 2008 and 2019.
It borders the Central African Republic, Sudan, Libya and Niger, all of which host Russian paramilitary forces from the Wagner group.
Deby has sought closer ties with Moscow in recent months, but talks to strengthen economic cooperation with Russia have yet to bear concrete results.
Koulamallah called the decision to end military cooperation a “historic turning point”, adding it was made after “in-depth analysis”.
“Chad, in accordance with the provisions of the agreement, undertakes to respect the terms laid down for its termination, including the notice period”, he said in the statement, which did not give a date for the withdrawal of French troops.
The announcement comes just days after Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye indicated in an interview with AFP that France should close its military bases in that country.
“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye told AFP on Thursday.
The House of Representatives has confirmed the appointment of Olufemi Oluyede as the Chief of Army Staff (COAS).
While the constitution does not make provision for confirmation of appointments by the House of Representatives, the lawmaker adopted a report of its ad–hoc committee on the confirmation/screening of the Acting Chief of Army Staff and Thursday, confirmed the appointment of Lieutenant General Oluyede as the Chief of Army Staff.
Chairman of the committee Babajimi Benson in presenting the report, said Lt. Gen. Oluyede had satisfied all requirements.
