Cambodian opposition protests US Embassy Facebook post about student who praised son of strongman Hun Sen
Post raised hackles in the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which is contesting Hun Sen’s party for local government seats nationwide on Sunday
Cambodia’s main opposition party is protesting to the US embassy for posting praise of the son of the nation’s long-ruling prime minister, just ahead of local elections this weekend. The embassy isn’t taking the Facebook post down.
The Tuesday post celebrated the first Cambodian student to graduate from the prestigious US Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It quoted the new graduate, 23-year-old Vithyea Phann, as describing Prime Minister Hun Sen’s powerful, eldest son as “one of my biggest idols”.
That raised hackles in the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party, which is contesting Hun Sen’s party for local government seats nationwide on Sunday. The vote is a bellwether of national politics ahead of general elections in 2018 as Hun Sen seeks to sustain his three decades of dominance.
“Example of US failings here. The US promotes the Cambodian ruling elites who do not share US values or interests,” the opposition party’s spokeswoman, Monovithya Kem, tweeted alongside a link to the Facebook post. It pictured Vithyea Phann in his white military uniform.
Alicia Edwards, State Department spokeswoman for East Asian and Pacific affairs, said the US is “strictly non-partisan and does not endorse candidates in any country’s elections.”