Cambodia election: 'This was more of a coronation than an election'

Undeterred by the pouring rain, a agelong convoy of motorbikes carrying cheering, flag-waving supporters of Cambodia's ruling enactment revved their engines successful mentation for their triumphant last rally successful downtown Phnom Penh.

People dutifully lined the roadworthy arsenic acold arsenic you could see, enactment stickers connected their cheeks, the sky-blue hats and shirts they had been fixed to deterioration getting steadily wetter.

Perched connected the backmost of a truck, Hun Manet, the 45-year-old eldest lad of Prime Minister Hun Sen, greeted the crowds proclaiming that lone the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) was susceptible of starring the country.

Indeed, his begetter had made definite that the CPP was the lone enactment which could perchance triumph the election.

Hun Sen, 70, has tally Cambodia successful his trademark pugnacious benignant for 38 years: archetypal successful a Vietnam-installed communist regime, past nether a UN-installed multi-party system, and much precocious arsenic an progressively intolerant autocrat.

The lone enactment present susceptible of challenging his rule, the Candlelight Party, was banned from the predetermination connected a technicality successful May. The remaining 17 parties allowed to contention it were excessively tiny oregon excessively little-known to airs a threat.

A fewer hours aft the polls closed, the CPP claimed the expected landslide, with a turnout of much than 80%. There were rather precocious levels of spoiled ballot papers successful immoderate polling stations: that was astir apt the lone harmless mode voters could amusement their enactment for the opposition.

With Hun Manet expected to win his begetter wrong weeks of the vote, successful a long-prepared transportation of power, this felt much similar a coronation than an election.

"I don't deliberation we tin adjacent telephone it a sham election," says Mu Sochua, an exiled erstwhile curate and subordinate of the CNRP, different absorption enactment banned by the Cambodian authorities successful 2017.

"We should telephone it a 'selection', for Hun Sen to marque definite that his enactment volition prime his lad arsenic the adjacent premier curate of Cambodia, to proceed the dynasty of the Hun family."

Yet determination were signs of nervousness successful the CPP earlier the vote. New laws were hurriedly passed criminalising immoderate encouragement of ballot-spoiling oregon a boycott. Several Candlelight members were arrested.

"Why was the CPP campaigning truthful hard, against nary 1 successful this predetermination with nary existent opposition?" asks Ou Virath, laminitis of the Cambodian deliberation vessel Future Forum.

"They knew they would triumph the predetermination - that was an casual result for them. But winning legitimacy is overmuch much difficult.

"They request to support weakening the opposition, but astatine the aforesaid time, they besides request to fulfill the people, truthful determination is nary repetition of erstwhile setbacks and disruptions, similar thoroughfare protests."

Hun Sen is 1 of Asia's large survivors, a wily, street-smart person who has clip and again outmanoeuvred his opponents. He has skilfully played disconnected China, by acold the biggest overseas capitalist these days, against the US and Europe, which are trying to claw backmost mislaid power successful the region.

But helium has travel adjacent to losing elections successful the past. He is inactive vulnerable, to rival factions successful his ain ruling party, and to immoderate abrupt downturn successful the Cambodian system which could sour nationalist sentiment against him. So arsenic helium prepares for a once-in-a-generation enactment change, helium is trying to cement his legacy.

A abbreviated thrust northbound of the capital, a 33m-high concrete-and-marble monolith was built recently, which helium calls the Win-Win memorial.

Its monolithic basal is covered successful carved chromatic reliefs, echoing Cambodia's top historical monument, Angkor Wat.

They picture Hun Sen's formation from Khmer Rouge-ruled Cambodia to Vietnam successful 1977, his triumphant instrumentality with the invading Vietnamese service successful 1979, and his eventual woody with the past of the Khmer Rouge leaders successful 1998 that ended the agelong civilian warfare - his win-win for the Cambodian people.

Delivering bid and prosperity has agelong been Hun Sen's main assertion to legitimacy. Since 1998, Cambodia has had 1 of the world's fastest-growing economies, albeit from a precise debased base.

But it is simply a exemplary of maturation which has concentrated wealthiness successful the hands of a fewer families - the fig of ultra-luxury cars connected the roads of specified a low-income state is jarring. It has encouraged rapacious exploitation of Cambodia's earthy resources and it has near galore mean radical feeling that they are not winning nether Mr Sen.

Prak Sophear lives with her household astatine the backmost of an motor repair shop, squeezed betwixt the main roadworthy and 1 of the galore shallow lakes successful the low-lying onshore extracurricular Phnom Penh. They person been determination for 25 years, sportfishing and cultivating vegetables connected the lake.

Today, though, overmuch of the water has been filled with rubble by a spot developer and Ms Sophear's household person been ordered to leave.

She showed maine a papers from the section council, confirming however agelong she had lived there, and different document, a summons to tribunal connected a complaint of illegally occupying authorities land. She feels powerless and aggravated - and she is not alone.

Land disputes are among the astir incendiary grievances successful Cambodia. All spot deeds were destroyed successful the Khmer Rouge revolution.

Since the extremity of the civilian war, millions of hectares person been allocated for commercialized development, a lucrative statement which has made galore politicians and businesses allied to Hun Sen precise rich.

The courts precise seldom regularisation against these almighty interests. Transparency International ranks Cambodia arsenic 150th retired of 180 countries for corruption: successful the Asia-Pacific region, lone Myanmar and North Korea fertile lower.

"Hun Sen ever talks astir his 'win-win policy'", says Ms Sophear. "But we consciousness it is helium unsocial who wins. We cannot consciousness astatine peace, arsenic we present look eviction. We, the existent Cambodian people, who unrecorded connected this land, are suffering successful the sanction of development."

Those who person tried to run against onshore grabs and evictions person been harassed, beaten and jailed, arsenic person commercialized unionists and supporters of absorption parties. I asked Ms Sophear however she would ballot successful this election. "Who tin I choose?" she asked. "Who tin support me?"

Half of those eligible to ballot are nether 35 years old. The CPP has tried attracting them by having Hun Manet and different younger enactment leaders tally this year's campaign, with a slick societal media strategy.

But arsenic astir Cambodians person nary representation of warfare oregon the Khmer Rouge, Ly Chandravuth, a 23-year-old instrumentality postgraduate and biology activist, says the aged CPP run points are nary longer persuasive.

"Hun Manet's biggest situation volition beryllium that my procreation is precise antithetic from erstwhile ones, who were traumatised by the Khmer Rouge," helium says.

"Since I was a child, I person watched the ruling enactment reminding america of that tragedy, telling america that arsenic they brought peace, we should enactment them. But that statement is little and little effective. Every clip the ruling enactment brings it up, the young procreation mocks them, due to the fact that they person been repeating it for 30 years."

Can Hun Manet modify the rough-house, sometimes thuggish enactment benignant of his begetter to a softer and much subtle benignant of rule? Despite his Western education, his years heading the service and his agelong apprenticeship, helium has ne'er yet held a apical governmental office.

With him, different "princeling" sons of Hun Sen's contemporaries, specified arsenic Defence Minister Tea Banh and Interior Minister Sar Keng, are besides expected to regenerate their fathers successful the furniture - a dynastic displacement which keeps the levers of powerfulness with the aforesaid families, but successful little experienced hands. The adjacent fewer years could beryllium a delicate, adjacent unsafe clip for Cambodia.