Idol Inspires the Art of Politics

Prime Minister Hun Sen, an avid fan of the TV show “Cambodian Idol,” took to Facebook on Saturday to call on politicians to refrain from interfering in the singing contest.

Apparently in response to a recent Facebook post in which opposition lawmaker Eng Chhay Eang claimed irregularities in the show’s voting process, Mr. Hun Sen mocked the criticism in a video.

“Even on the matter of the arts that people voted for, they did not respect [the result], so why would they accept the election result prepared by the National Election Committee?” Mr. Hun Sen said, a seeming nod to the opposition’s boycott of the 2013 national election result.

Mr. Chhay Eang said yesterday that he never meant to make Cambodian Idol a political issue.

“The prime minister should not raise this because it is just entertainment,” he said. “I am sorry we made entertainment a political matter.”

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