Hun Manet succeeded his father, Hun Sen, as Cambodia¡¯s dictator following fraudulent elections in July, in which the ruling Cambodian People Party¡¯s ¡°won¡± 96% of parliamentary seats. Since then, the new prime minister has been shoring up international support for the transition.
Prior to the ruling party¡¯s victory, members of the main opposition party, Candlelight, were attacked in broad daylight and the organization was banned from participating in the elections on a bureaucratic technicality.
Barely weeks after the EU and U.S. had condemned his father¡¯s government for stealing the vote ¡ª with Japan adopting the milder stance of closely watching the situation ¡°with concern¡± ¡ª Hun Manet was being offered the trappings of international legitimacy.
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