CSOs and Democracy

In the recent elections Premier Hun Sen of Cambodia has learned that a large part of the Cambodians want a new political leadership. But even though his party has lost many votes, a change in the repressive political system is currently very unlikely.

Cambodia’s elections did not produce a clear winner – this alone is notable news for a country that has been governed by the same person for almost 29 years. However Prime Minister Hun Sen continues to sit tight at the reigns. What does this mean for the German development cooperation with Cambodia?

Decades after the Khmer Rouge’s reign and after the end of the civil war in the 1990s, Cambodia is governed today by political elite that is criticized by international observers as being authoritarian and corrupt.

  Nobody expects free and fair elections in Cambodia. Dr. C. Kek Pung from the NGO LICADHO explains the irregularities of the electoral process and risks people take when observing the elections.

    Thilo Hoppe, member of the German Bundestag for the Green party and vice chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Economic Cooperation and Development, comments on the expectations of the elections, on Hun Sen and the intended government negotiations between Germany and Cambodia this fall.

Given the candidacy of so many sons of leading CPP politicians – having a son and a son-in-law of Hun Sen in parliament is among their aspirations – the ruling party can therefore fully concentrate on establishing a new Cambodian dynasty. It has little to do with a liberal democracy.