Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest-serving leaders, in July announced his retirement after nearly four decades in the power.
READ ALSO: Female Soldier Shoots Captain Dead In Adamawa
According to BBC, Hun Sen, 70, said he was leaving his West Point-educated son Hun Manet to form a new government after the ruling party claimed a landslide election victory over the weekend.
Hun Sen while speaking during a televised address said the situation in Cambodia would become unstable if he continued to stay in office and it’s “very necessary for a new cabinet of all young people” to assume control.
Earlier on Saturday, the country’s electoral body announced the final results of the election, sealing a landslide victory for the ruling party of long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen and a mandate for the next five years.
In an announcement on TVK state television and government social media platforms, the country’s National Election Committee said Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party won 120 of 125 available seats in the July 23 general election. The royalist Funcinpec Party won five seats, while none of the other 16 political parties gained any seats.
Hun Manet won his first seat in Parliament in the July election, and the handover from his father is part of a larger, generational shift: Many younger lawmakers are expected to take up ministerial positions, including Hun Sen’s youngest son and others related to older party members.
Many were educated in the West, like Hun Manet, who has a bachelor’s degree from the United States Military Academy at West Point, a master’s degree from New York University and a doctorate from Bristol University in Britain, all in economics.
After the royal decree was announced, Hun Sen posted on Telegram and the X social media platform that he was stepping down to give a “chance to the successors to lead.”
(C)ControlTV2023.
