“Last month, Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen made made a strange demand ahead of his country’s general elections on July 29: Rival candidates, he said, must refrain from criticizing the ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) he leads. To outsiders accustomed to politicians relentlessly attacking one another, such a demand is absurd. But so is much else about the contest…” which Hun Sen will doubtlessly win and extend his 33-year rule. While holding elections, the leader also regularly cracks down on dissent from political rivals, the media and civil society. Holding elections, however, maintains the appearance of democracy and enables the ruling power to claim legitimacy, and also “to receive favorable economic treatment by Western powers, and stay compliant with a 1991 peace accord that ended Cambodia’s civil war and mandates ‘periodic and genuine elections.’”
Source: Cambodia elections: What you should know about Hun Sen, CPP, and CNRP — Quartz
