Cambodia’s jailing of Kem Sokha will ensure Hun Sen’s son gets ‘smooth transfer’ of power
- Harsh length of Kem Sokha’s 27-year jail term sends ‘clear, intimidating message’ to opposition ahead of elections in summer
- Hun Manet, the oldest of Hun Sen’s children, has been groomed to succeed him
Kem Sokha, 69, was last week sentenced by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court to 27 years in jail for treason, following a three-year trial in which a judge had deemed his election campaigning and civil society work were aimed at sparking a “colour revolution”.
The former president of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) would also be indefinitely banned from politics and voting in elections. Nor would he be allowed to meet anyone apart from relatives while under house arrest.
Sophal Ear, an associate professor at Arizona State University’s Thunderbird School of Global Management, said his jailing was designed to ensure nothing would stand in the way of Cambodia’s July election and affect the “smooth transfer of power to the prime minister designee”.
The oldest of Hun Sen’s six children, Hun Manet, has been groomed to succeed his father, who has ruled the country for almost four decades.
Hun Manet, 45, a lieutenant general, has been the commander of the Cambodian army since 2018 and is also the youth wing chief of his father’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP).
Despite his arrest, Kem Sokha’s popularity in Cambodia means there remains a possibility of a comeback with a political party.
