Hopes for reviving competitive democracy in Cambodia faded further this week as the country’s largest opposition force publicly fractured and Prime Minister Hun Sen explicitly backed his eldest son, a military general, to succeed him as leader.
After graduating from the U.S. Military Academy West Point in 1999, Hun Manet quickly rose through the ranks of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. He has long been seen as his father’s anointed heir.
In a speech on Thursday, the strongman leader dispelled any doubt about his desire to see the 44-year-old, who was appointed commander of the army in 2018, take over the position that he has held for more than three decades.
In full: https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Hun-Sen-s-succession-plan-Cambodian-PM-backs-son-to-take-over
