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PHNOM PENH, Aug 17 (IPS) – Democracy is declining in Southeast Asia. The Cambodian prime minister will hand over his workplace to his son later this month, after rigged elections. In the meantime, Thailand’s largest political occasion is stored from energy.
”What do you anticipate, he’s within the navy!” My fellow journalist is kind of agency after I ask her what she thinks in regards to the prime minister-designate of Cambodia. We sit in her favorite espresso store close to the royal palace within the capital metropolis Phnom Penh, the place we sometimes meet to debate political points.
Little various
She doesn’t assume Hun Manet (45), who will turn out to be the nation’s subsequent chief on August 22, will change the system. Not solely as a result of he’s a military chief, but additionally as a result of she thinks father Hun Sen (71) will proceed to play an necessary function behind the scenes until his final day.
“Till then, the son can not presumably sort out the widespread corruption, even when he wished to,” she says, referring to a narrative about kids of occasion officers who’re on the payrolls of ministries with out really working there.
My colleague has been residing in Cambodia because the late Nineteen Nineties and he or she is aware of that there’s little various. If the present rulers have been to vanish right now, the lights would exit on this nation. Actually, as a result of the prime minister’s household additionally owns the one electrical energy firm.
The dynastic succession from father to son raised extra eyebrows amongst overseas observers than amongst Cambodian residents. In current many years, they’ve primarily been busy rebuilding their nation after the devastating Khmer Rouge interval and the turbulent Eighties.
Hun Sen’s CPP (Cambodian Folks’s Occasion) has dominated the nation because the late Seventies and has declared a landslide victory after final month’s nationwide elections. This wasn’t a shock, as all important opponents had been eradicated upfront.
A sport of thrones
In neighboring Thailand, the opposition was allowed to take part in current elections. In Might this yr, the reformist and anti-junta Transfer Ahead Occasion (MFP) even grew to become the biggest occasion. However chief Pita Limjaroenrat failed to collect sufficient help from the military-appointed senators to turn out to be prime minister.
Limjaroenrat is even suspended as a member of parliament for allegedly violating electoral guidelines. The brand new prime minister will probably be a candidate from the second largest group in Parliament, Pheu Thai. That is the occasion of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra (74), who has been residing in exile for fifteen years to flee convictions and can now return to Thailand.
“So it’s confirmed”, writes political journalist and Thailand knowledgeable Andrew MacGregor Marshall on his X-account (previously Twitter).
A historical past of coups
Thailand has a historical past of successive navy coups, every time overthrowing civilian governments. The final one was in 2014 when outgoing Prime Minister Prayut took energy. 5 years later, he was in a position to keep in workplace as prime minister after uncertain elections. Future Ahead, the predecessor of MFP, was sidelined.
However in contrast to the Cambodians, the Thai individuals are not simply lectured by an previous energy elite. In 2020, pupil protests grew into nationwide anti-establishment demonstrations. For the primary time, the monarchy was additionally overtly questioned.
King Vajiralongkorn, who inherited the throne from his well-liked father Bhumibol in 2016, is accused of quickly gaining powers by no means possessed by his predecessor. Nevertheless, Thailand has strict legal guidelines in opposition to lese-majeste and a number of other college students have been sentenced to jail for taking part in these (peaceable) demonstrations.
Behind the scenes
Final month, dissatisfied MFP supporters gathered within the streets of Bangkok to precise their anger. Extra protest is to be anticipated. In an opinion article for ‘Bangkok Put up’, political scientist Thitinan Pongsudhirak says the voter has little to say, whereas the actual political sport takes place behind the scenes. He’s referring to the Constitutional Court docket, which may simply eradicate (opposition) events.
“The commotion and seeming chaos amongst political events and politicians, in distinction to the appointed businesses and established centres of energy, has been used to discredit and weaken democratic establishments”, he writes.
Similar story in 2017 in Cambodia, the place the Supreme Court docket outlawed the opposition occasion CNRP (Cambodia Nationwide Rescue Occasion). For this yr’s poll, political opponent Candle Mild Occasion (CLP, the successor to CNRP) was merely disqualified. In keeping with the election committee, “the occasion did not submit a duplicate of the unique occasion registration”.
Nation’s greatest asset
In the meantime, within the espresso bar in Phnom Penh, we’re ending our coffees. The prediction about father Hun Sen’s interference appears to be correct. In a current speech, the outgoing prime minister hit out at election critics within the EU and the US. “Democracy has gained,” he mentioned. He known as the household switch of energy “wanted to make sure peace within the nation and to forestall bloodshed”.
This has all the time been Hun Sen’s technique. Emphasizing he has introduced peace and stability after the turbulent Khmer Rouge period, whereas mildly pampering the center class to keep away from any rebellion. In keeping with his successor, who additionally held a post-election speech, “the nation’s greatest asset is its human assets”.
It’s promising that the brand new chief acknowledges the alternatives (but additionally the challenges) of his very younger inhabitants, with a median age of 25 years effectively under the worldwide common. Hopefully this Hun Manet will give Cambodian politics a extra human face, though he’s ‘the son of his father’.
© Inter Press Service (2023) — All Rights ReservedOriginal source: Inter Press Service
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