2023-08-21 07:54:00
Cambodia’s new parliament convened on Monday to confirm the handover of power between Hun Sen, prime minister of 38 years, and his son Hun Manet, after a landslide victory in a disputed parliamentary election last month.
The Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won 120 of the 125 seats in the lower house in a widely criticized poll after the main opposition force, the Candle Party, was ousted.
A few days after the vote, Hun Sen, one of the world’s oldest leaders, announced that he was stepping down and handing over power to his eldest son, after several decades of unchallenged rule.
King Norodom Sihamoni, whose role is largely symbolic, opened the session and congratulated the newly elected MPs, including Hun Manet, dressed in traditional attire.
He urged MPs to do “more of an effort to help people live as equals” and said he was confident the new government would receive the mandate from parliament.
Parliament will meet again on Tuesday to officially elect the four-star general to lead the country.
Hun Many, Hun Manet’s younger brother, becomes civil service minister, while sons of interior and defense ministers will take over their fathers’ posts, according to a draft list of new cabinet members seen by the AFP.
Hun Sen’s nephew, Neth Savoeun, the current powerful national police chief, will serve as deputy prime minister.
Former Khmer Rouge cadre Hun Sen, in power since 1985, railed against criticism from the international community over the unopposed elections and said handing over to his son would avoid a “bloodbath for himself”. seize power” upon his death.
His detractors accuse him of having rolled back fundamental freedoms and used the judicial system to muzzle his opponents, thrown by the dozens into prison during his terms of office.
They claim that his reign was also marked by environmental destruction and rampant corruption.
After stepping down, Hun Sen will become president of the Senate early next year, the number 2 in the protocol order after the king, whom he will replace as head of state when the latter is abroad .
He said he would continue to hold other positions until at least 2033.
21/08/2023 07:53:09 – Phnom Penh (AFP) – © 2023 AFP
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