 |
| Son of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, Lt. Gen. Hun Manet delivers a speech at a military equipment delivery ceremony at the National Olympic Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, on Jun 18, 2020. (Photo by= AP/Heng Sinith) |
[Asia News = Reporter Reakkana] PHNOM PENH: Cambodia's longtime ruling party voted to endorse Prime Minister Hun Sen's eldest son as "future prime minister" on Friday (Dec 24) but did not specify when he might succeed his father, who has been in power for more than three decades, Reuters reported.
In one of the world's longest premierships, Hun Sen, 69, has overseen a period in which political rivals have been jailed or exiled, critical media outlets shuttered and civil dissent crushed. His Cambodian People's Party (CPP) - which holds every seat in parliament - said it had unanimously endorsed his son Hun Manet, a 44-year-old senior military figure, as "the prime minister candidate in the future". But party spokesman Sok Eysan told Reuters that Hun Sen will not resign anytime soon and that the timeline for Hun Manet to run for the office has not been set.
The country is next due to hold elections in 2023. "The party's congress continues to support Samdech Hun Sen to be the prime minister," Sok Eysan said, using a Khmer honorific for the prime minister that roughly translates as "lord". "Whether he will succeed at the 2023 or at the 2028 election, will remain though subject to further horse trading within the party," he told Reuters.
