The former Prime Minister of Cambodia, Hun Sen, who stepped down last summer for the benefit of his son, after around forty years in power, became, on Wednesday April 3, the President of the Senate, an honorary role which gives him allows you to maintain your hold on power. It’s “an honor,” he rejoiced after the vote, promising to strengthen the development of diplomacy through his new functions.
“This is the first time I have sat on such a high chair,” Hun Sen said. The sixty-two senators, the vast majority from the Cambodian People's Party, a party controlled by the Hun clan, unanimously nominated the former leader, aged 71, as the sole candidate.
In Cambodia, the president of the Upper House acts as interim head of state when the king cannot assume his functions. He also helps to appoint a new sovereign after the death or abdication of the previous monarch, by sitting on the Throne Council.
“The Senate is not a powerful political or legislative body, but it plays a leading ceremonial role, as the highest political symbol of the nation,” said political expert Ou Virak, in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
The new government led by his eldest son, Hun Manet, includes a number of his family members and several children of Hun Sen's allies in important positions. In February, his younger son, Hun Many, was promoted to deputy prime minister.
After coming to power in 1985, Hun Sen helped modernize the country, devastated by civil war and genocide. For his detractors, his reign was also marked by environmental destruction, endemic corruption and the elimination of almost all of his rivals.
