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The Strengthening of Hun Sen's Rule: Cambodia’s 2023 National Assembly Elections and the Birth of the Hereditary Regime
Authors/Editors
Hiroshi Yamada
Publication date
March 2024
ISBN
978-4-258-04663-8
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About this book
About this book
In August 2023, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen resigned after holding office for 38 years and 7 months and was succeeded by his eldest son, former army commander Hun Manet. Why did Hun Sen decide on an early succession, contrary to the expectations of most observers? What does the formation of a “hereditary cabinet” consisting of Hun Manet and other second-generation leaders mean for Cambodian politics? This book answers these questions by examining the 2023 National Assembly election and subsequent official appointments in the new cabinet and state institutions. The examination reveals that although the Hun Sen administration has ended, his control persists even more robustly. This book reports the current state of rapidly changing Cambodian politics, detailing what has and has not changed after the general election and the formation of the new cabinet in 2023.
Contents
Preface
Chapter1 Political Development under Hegemonic Party Autocracy: The Political Context of the 2023 National Assembly Elections
Author：Hiroshi Yamada, Haruno Shintani
Chapter2 Aiming at Stable Hereditary Succession: Implications of the 2023 National Assembly Elections
Author：Hiroshi Yamada
Chapter3 An Unfinished Transfer of Power: Continuation of Hun Sen's Rule after Hereditary Succession
Author：Hiroshi Yamada
Preface
Preface
The year 2023 was a historic one for Cambodia. In the seventh National Assembly election (general election) held on July 23rd, the largest opposition party was excluded, as it had been in the previous general election in 2018, and the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) had a landslide victory. The current constitutional order was established in 1993 following interim rule by the United Nations, and the new constitution stipulated liberal democracy based on a multiparty system. The impetus for democratization, however, has significantly reversed, and by 2023 (30 years later), elections devoid of substantial competition among political parties have become completely normal. Immediately after the 2023 general election, Hun Sen, who had served as Prime Minister for 38 years and 7 months, suddenly announced his resignation. On August 22, his eldest son Hun Manet became the Prime Minister, and a “hereditary cabinet” was formed. That is, Hun Sen and a small group of surrounding cadres collectively transferred power to their children.
This book examines the 2023 general election and subsequent official appointments in the new cabinet and state institutions based on information available up to early December of the same year for better understanding of the current state of Cambodian politics, which has experienced the aforementioned drastic developments. In particular, our examination of official appointments linked to the ongoing succession of power from leaders of the CPP to their children provides meaningful perspectives in understanding today's Cambodian politics and foreseeing its future.
This book is the final product of a project entitled “Cambodia’s 2023 National Assembly Elections: Collective Power Succession for the Post-Hun Sen Era” (an IDE-JETRO timely research project) which was conducted from May to October 2023 (Chief reviewer: Hiroshi Yamada). Haruno Shintani of IDE-JETRO and I (invited to the Institute as domestic visiting research fellow for a year from September 2022) are the two researchers who conducted the project. We held six study sessions by October 2023 and published three articles in IDE Square as interim reports (“Toward Stable Hereditary Succession: Cambodia’s 2023 National Assembly Elections,” “Paving the Way for Hereditary Succession: Cambodia’s 2023 National Assembly Elections,” and "Has Power Been Transferred? The Birth of the Hereditary Regime in Cambodia”). This book is a result of substantial additions and revisions to these reports.
This book is the second book from IDE-JETRO on Cambodia’s general election, following Cambodia's Quiet Election: The 2018 General Election and the Path Leading up to It (Naomi Hatsukano, ed., 2020, in Japanese). This book focuses on examining election results and official appointments in the new cabinet and other government bodies. Considering the nature of IDE-JETRO timely research projects, we sought to publish the book by the end of 2023. Its volume has become modest as a result; however; it provides timely coverage of the current state of Cambodian politics, which has moved toward increased dictatorship and hereditary appointments, and the likelihood that Hun Sen's control will remain for the foreseeable future after the formation of the hereditary cabinet.
During the process of publishing this book, including field research in Cambodia, we received help and support from many people. In particular, we would like to express our deepest gratitude to Norihiko Yamada for providing advice at various points in the process (project planning, project operation, and compilation of final results), two reviewers for providing valuable comments, and Yusuke Hirahara for coordinating various tasks for the publication under a tight schedule.
Editor