Cambodia’s Hun Sen, Asia’s longest serving leader, says he’ll step down and his son will take over

By SOPHENG CHEANG and DAVID RISING
Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen says he will step down in August and hand the position to his oldest son, though Asia’s longest-serving leader is expected to continue to wield significant power. The widely anticipated move comes after the autocratic Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party secured a landslide victory in elections Sunday. Western countries and rights organizations criticized that vote as neither free nor fair, partially because the country’s main opposition was barred from competing. Hun Sen’s son is Hun Manet, who won his first seat in Parliament just days ago and is the chief of the country’s army. His rise to power is part of a larger generational shift: Many younger lawmakers are expected to take up ministerial positions.