Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen is retiring after nearly 40 years at the forefront of Cambodia's leadership.

His successor? His son, Hun Manet.

Succession

Hun Sen announced in a speech on July 26 that he would be stepping down as Prime Minister.

He also said that his son Hun Manet will succeed him as PM on Aug 10, according to Reuters.

Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party won a landslide election victory on July 23, claiming 96 per cent of the vote.

But this was after the main opposition party, Candlelight Party, was disqualified on a technicality, having supposedly submitted a document incorrectly.

As a result, the CPP will have 120 out of 125 seats in the new parliament.

The son also rises

Hun Manet himself was elected in the landslide, a parliamentary seat being a requirement for the Prime Ministership.

Al Jazeera reports that while there was little violence during the campaigning period of the election, there were nonetheless allegations of voter intimidation.

The 46-year-old general, who is the head of Cambodia's army, was educated at West Point, the United State's premier officer training school, according to the Associated Press.

This has led to speculation that ties between Cambodia and the U.S. might warm with Hun Manet as PM, although it seems unlikely that the country will relinquish its close ties to China.

A 2020 profile of Hun Manet by Australian think tank Lowy Institute noted that Hun Manet was quite popular with Cambodia's youth, but would always be shadowed by his father's reputation.

In Exile

Hun Sen has been a force in Cambodian politics ever since he became foreign minister as part of a Vietnam-backed government that replaced the deposed Khmer Rouge.

He has held the prime ministership almost uninterrupted since 1985, although he shared it with Prince Norodom Ranariddh in a co-prime ministership arrangement, half-brother of the current Cambodian monarch.

Cambodian opposition leader Sam Rainsy has lived in exile in France since 2015, but recently attempted to re-enter Cambodia surreptitiously via Malaysia in June 2023.

However Malaysian authorities handling him found out and expelled him before he could hold meetings with other Cambodian exiles.

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Top image via@hunsencambodia/Twitter & @hunmanet_coarmy/Twitter