30 YEARS OF HUN SEN Violence, Repression, and Corruption in Cambodia (original) (raw)

CAMBODIA 2015: 30 YEARS OF HUN SEN’S GOVERNMENT AND THE PROGRESSIVE CENTRALIZATION OF POWER

In 2015 Cambodia celebrated the anniversary of 30 years of Hun Sen's government. This article argues that this anniversary coincided with a crisis of hegemony of both the leadership and the Hun Sen's government. During 2015 Hun Sen tempted to face the crisis without a precise strategy. The most important was the so called «culture of dialogue» with the opposition coalition and its leader Sam Rainsy. In a first stage this dialogue was unexpectedly fruitful, but after a few months was interrupted and the two parties plunged in the traditional clash. In terms of international relations, the Cambodian government has further strengthened its relations with China. The solid relationships with Beijing have allowed Phnom Penh an approach more assertive in respect of Vietnam and of others ASEAN members.

Cambodia's Transition to Hegemonic Authoritarianism

Journal of Democracy, 2019

Tragedy is a consistent narrative of Cambodian politics. Since 1953, when the country gained its independence from France, it has suffered no less than four coups, three invasions, one civil war, and a cataclysmic genocide carried out by the Khmer Rouge. The last few years have witnessed yet another iteration of this narrative. This came in the form of a brutal crackdown and sham election perpetrated by the dictator Hun Sen, who has been in power since January 1985. The crackdown itself targeted the last remaining vestiges of public antagonism to the ruling Cambodian People’s Party, namely civil society groups, independent media organizations, and political opponents. The sham election capitalized of this act of suppression by providing a mechanism to maintain power, albeit while feigning conformity to the virtues of party competition, citizen participation and impartial validation. Despite a history of both intense repression and flawed elections under Hun Sen’s government, recent events were unprecedented by the standard of Cambodian politics. This was because Hun Sen’s government was implementing a strategy unfamiliar to people living inside Cambodia and unusual for scholars outside it: a transition from competitive to hegemonic authoritarian rule.

Cambodia: Getting Away with Authoritarianism?

Journal of Democracy, 2005

What if a country holds an election but it proves not to matter? Cambodians voted nationwide in July 2003, only to see their polity’s three main political parties take almost a year to form a new administration. The long-ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) of Prime Minister Hun Sen won 47.4 percent of the popular vote but gained 59.3 percent of

Cambodia Twenty Years On: A Political Dynasty in the Making?

After a few decades of authoritarian control and civil war, Cambodia held a UN-sponsored multiparty national election in 1993. Twenty years after the UN left Cambodia, despite some periods of political deadlock, Cambodia's electoral democracy, undoubtedly not without flaws, appears to be relatively stable and has been accepted as a norm.

Cambodia Between the End of History and the End Times of Human Rights

On July 28, 2013, Cambodians went to the polls for the fifth time in 20 years and loudly voiced their desire for change. The Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), which has ruled the country in various guises since 1979, reeled as its share of the 123-seat National Assembly was slashed from 90 seats to just 68 — its worst electoral performance since 1998. The remaining 55 seats were won by the newly formed Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which had deftly capitalized on the simmering discontent with the 29-year rule of Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Cambodia’s hegemonic-party system: How and why the CPP became dominant

Asian Journal of Comparative Politics, 2018

This article seeks to shed light on how and why the Cambodian People’s Party (the CPP) emerged and became dominant in the multi-party system formally introduced to Cambodia when the United Nations intervened in the early 1990s. Historical factors, relative power, leadership, and tactics matter a great deal. Hun Sen has been in power for more than 30 years and his effectiveness can be attributed to three tactics: coercion, co-option, and control. The post-Cold War environment also made it possible for the CPP government to use these tactics successfully, as major powers preferred to work with Hun Sen or did little to undermine him.