PHNOM PENH: Cam-bodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Wednesday he would step down and hand over power to his son next month, ending a near four-decade reign during which he established stability after years of war but stifled democracy in the process.

       One of the world’s longest ruling leaders, Hun Sen made the announcement days after his Cambodian Peoples Party (CPP) won 120 of 125 parliamentary seats in a general election from which all serious opponents were banished.

       “I met the king, and declared I won’t continue the position as prime minister anymore,” Hun Sen said in a nationally televised address.

       “I must sacrifice and relinquish power.”

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       Hun Sen, 70, said his son, Hun Manet, would get royal approval as prime minister on Aug 10 and be sworn in on Aug 22.

       “Hun Manet … will become prime minister in the coming weeks,” he said.

       Hun Sen said it was time to make way for a younger generation of leaders.

       “It is very necessary to have a new cabinet which comprises mostly young people … they are responsible for the future,” he said.

       “Long-term peace and development will be continued under my son.”

       No retirement plans

       But Hun Sen will not disappear into retirement. He said he would be staying on as head of the ruling party and a member of the National Assembly. He recently said he would step back in to the prime minister’s job if his son did not perform well.

       Opposition politicians, most of them in self-exile, and rights groups say Hun Sen has for years suppressed democratic institutions while party colleagues and relatives have benefited from a range of business concessions.

       Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2023