Longtime Cambodian leader Hun Sen has said he will step down as prime minister in three weeks’ time and hand the position to his oldest son, who won his first seat in parliament in weekend elections.
The announcement came after their Cambodian People’s Party won a landslide victory in the polls, which Western countries and rights organisations criticised as neither free nor fair, and in which the country’s main opposition was suppressed.
Hun Sen has been Cambodia’s autocratic leader for 38 years but said ahead of the elections that he would hand the position to his oldest son, Hun Manet, sometime during the next five-year term.
Hun Manet, 45, is currently the head of the country’s army.
In a televised address on Wednesday, Hun Sen, who is Asia’s longest-serving leader, said he had informed King Norodom Sihamoni of his decision and that the king had agreed.
Hun Sen said his son will be named prime minister after the National Election Commission reports the final results of Sunday’s election, in which the CPP won 120 of 125 seats.
He has also said a new generation will take over many of the top ministerial positions in the new government, which he said will be formed on August 22.
Even though he is stepping down from the premiership, Hun Sen is widely expected to remain closely involved in running Cambodia, and is also to become president of the country’s senate.
