Two million reasons why Cambodia’s prime minister fears US meddling in elections
Jonathan Power says when one looks at the history of Washington’s involvement in Cambodia, including its backing of the murderous Khmer Rouge, it’s easier to understand Hun Sen’s crackdown against opposition forces ahead of next year’s election
Yet economic growth nears 7 per cent year after year. Land reform has worked. Health and education of the poor has improved markedly. In other countries, this might mean political liberalisation. But Hun Sen, who has won many elections, fears defeat next year.
Cambodia’s ruling party rule change at National Assembly puts opposition’s future in limbo
To understand, we must go back 47 years. In 1970, a pro-American military junta, led by Lon Nol, deposed King Sihanouk, who had kept his country out of the Vietnam war. Lon Nol threw his weight behind the US, supporting their bombing of the Khmer Rouge, which roamed in the interior. Napalm was used unsparingly. In the end, though, the Khmer Rouge overthrew Lon Nol.
Fast forward to 1979. The Vietnam war ended in 1975 with US defeat. The Khmer Rouge were in power in Cambodia. Besides continuously provoking Vietnam with military incursions, at home, they killed nearly 2 million people.
The North Vietnamese invaded Cambodia in 1979, and installed in power ex-Khmer Rouge dissidents. One of them was Hun Sen, prime minister since 1985.
