Prime Minister Hun Sen on Wednesday dismissed rumors that his son, Hun Manet, was to run for a National Assembly seat in Siem Reap province next year.
Hun Sen also slammed other political leaders and lawmakers for helping their wives and family members get ahead in politics.
“I would like to clarify that my son has no plan to become involved with politics,” Hun Sen said. “He must wait. [Now] he can work on social issues and other cultural and humanitarian activities,” he added.
Rumors have circulated for months that Hun Manet is being groomed for political office and some opposition lawmakers have speculated that such a move might be the seed of a Hun Sen family dynasty in the prime ministerial office.
Speaking during a graduation ceremony at the National Education Institute, Hun Sen also said that among all his children, only Hun Manet held a rank in the RCAF but denied that he was in line to become the RCAF commander-in-chief.
“It is not right that when a father finishes that the son takes over and receives the heritage,” Hun Sen added.
Hun Manet, 28, the oldest son of Hun Sen, graduated from the West Point military academy in the US in 1999. He is currently wrapping up a doctoral thesis in economics at a university in the UK.
On Monday night, state-run TVK broadcast a news story about Hun Manet distributing gifts in Siem Reap province with other senior CPP officials.
In his speech, Hun Sen also appeared to refer to SRP leader Sam Rainsy when he criticized political leaders whose wives are also lawmakers.
SRP lawmaker Tioulong Saumura, who is the wife of Sam Rainsy, said her political career had predated her being a member of a party lead by her husband.
“I was elected not as the wife of Sam Rainsy but because of my own ability,” she added.
An economist and previously a prominent banker in Paris, Tioulong Saumura was also elected to the Inter-Parliamentary Union’s Standing Committee for Sustainable Development, Finance and Trade earlier this year, making her the first Cambodian to hold any position in the 150-nation federation of lawmakers.
Koul Panha, director for the Committee for Free and Fair Elections, said it was the right of an individual to decide whether to run for election, regardless of whom they are related to.
“There are husbands and wives in many parties here and in other parties in other countries around the world,” he said.
