PHNOM PENH, Cambodia: Cambodians voted in an election on Sunday that all but assured victory for longtime leader Hun Sen as he seeks to secure his legacy by handing the reins to his eldest son.
The 70-year-old former Khmer Rouge cadre has ruled since 1985 and faces no real competition in this vote, with opposition parties banned, challengers forced to flee and freedom of expression suppressed.
His Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) is likely to retain all 125 seats in the lower house, extending his power and paving the way for a dynastic succession that some critics have compared to North Korean politics.
The only serious opposition party was disqualified on a technicality in the pre-election period, and it will be a surprise if any of the 17 other small, poorly financed parties win seats.
Hun Sen cast his vote in the capital Phnom Penh shortly after polling stations opened at 7:00 a.m. (0000 GMT), according to AFP reporters on the spot.
More than 9.7 million people are registered to vote in the seventh election since 1993, when the United Nations first sponsored the polls, after years of conflict – including the era of the genocidal Khmer Rouge – left the country devastated.
Over the past 30 years, any hopes the international community might have had for a vibrant multi-party democracy in Cambodia have been flattened by the giant Hun Sen.
The veteran PM began looking to the future, saying he would hand over his son, four-star general Hun Manet – perhaps even in the coming weeks.
“We exercised our civil right and responsibility and the right … of citizens to vote for the party we love to lead the country,” the 45-year-old scion told reporters after casting his vote.
Many question whether Hun Manet, educated in the United States and Britain, could bring change to the country – although Hun Sen has made it clear that he intends to pull the strings even after his son takes over.
Asked by AFP what he plans to do for Cambodia when he becomes prime minister, Hun Manet said: “I have no comment on that.”
It was Hun Manet who led the CPP’s final rally in Phnom Penh on Friday, telling a raucous crowd that it was the country’s “day of victory”.
Critics would disagree, and human rights organizations condemned the election.
On the eve of the vote, a 17-member coalition – including the Asian Network for Free Elections and the International Federation for Human Rights – said the polls were of “deep concern”.
“The upcoming election exercise shows a marked absence of transparency, fairness and inclusiveness in the electoral process,” the coalition said in a statement issued on Saturday.
Parties Dissolved
The only real challenge to the CPP came from the Candlelight Party (CP). But in May, the local electoral authority refused to register the party, making it ineligible to compete.
The decision came after the KS did better than expected in last year’s local elections, winning 22 percent of the popular vote.
Internationally, Hun Sen played up tensions between the United States and China and amassed huge sums in Chinese investment, which did not come without demands for democratic reforms.
Speaking before the vote, the CP told AFP that the registration decision meant there was no way the election could be free or fair.
“Everyone knows who will win,” said party vice chairman Rong Chhun.
There was similar despondency among some people who voted for a heavy police presence in Phnom Penh’s dusty polling station.
“I don’t feel excited or anything because there are no opposition parties left,” Oum Sokum, 51, told AFP.
In the run-up to the election, free speech was heavily suppressed, and one of the few remaining independent news outlets, Voice of Democracy, was closed earlier this year.
And last month, Hun Sen ordered changes to election laws that bar anyone who fails to vote in the upcoming poll from running for office at all – a move that will affect exiled rivals.
Among those challengers is longtime nemesis Sam Rainsy, who has been in French exile for nearly a decade to avoid conviction for what he says is a politically motivated crime.
Opposition leader Kem Sokha is languishing under house arrest at home after being sentenced to 27 years for treason for allegedly conspiring with foreigners to topple Hun Sen’s government.
Polling stations close at 3:00 p.m.
