Autocratic Cambodian leader paving way for son, a West Point graduate with PhD in economics, to rule

By DAVID RISING
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodia’s Hun Sen has been his country’s autocratic prime minister for nearly four decades, during which the opposition has been stifled and the country has moved closer to China. With his party virtually guaranteed another landslide victory in this Sunday’s election, it’s hard to imagine dramatic change on the horizon. But the 70-year-old former Khmer Rouge fighter says he is ready to hand the premiership to his oldest son, Hun Manet, who heads the country’s army. A graduate of West Point, Hun Manet also has a master’s degree from New York University and a doctorate in economics from Britain’s Bristol University. But his speeches are short on specifics, so it’s hard to know if his background may portend political change.