Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen announces resignation
In a landmark announcement on 26 July 2023, Cambodia’s Prime Minister (PM) Hun Sen—one of the world’s longest-serving leaders—announced that he would step down next month and hand over power to his son—Hun Manet.
This announcement came three days after his party—the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP)—won 120 out of 125 National Assembly seats in what has been labelled an uncompetitive election. Despite stepping down, PM Hun Sen would be appointed president of the High Privy Council and at the Senate election next year, he will be a candidate for Senate President, replacing Say Chhum who will retire. Moreover, he will remain as caretaker prime minister until Hun Manet takes over on 22 August. It was also announced that National Assembly President Heng Samrin, Defense Minister Tea Banh, and Minister of National Assembly-Senate Relations and Inspection Men Sam An will be the members of the High Privy Council and advisers to the King. Further, PM Hun Sen also stated that the new parliament will convene on 21 August and the new prime minister and cabinet would be sworn in on 22 August. On 25 July 2023, the CPP also laid out Cambodia’s foreign policy for the next five years to focus on sustainability in the midst of the US-China rivalry.
Hun Manet, who is 45 years old, graduated from West Point military academy in the United States, has a Master’s degree from New York University and a PhD from the University of Bristol, both in economics. Hun Manet ostensibly played a role in commanding forces during sporadic skirmishes between Cambodian and Thai soldiers from 2008 to 2011. In 2015, he joined the CPP standing committee and started leading efforts to increase party support abroad. In 2020, he became head of the youth wing of the ruling Cambodian People’s Party while he was endorsed as the future prime minister in 2021.
Human Rights Watch has said that the prospect of a dynastic handover “makes Cambodia look more like North Korea than a genuine democracy”, while others believed that if it weren’t for his father, Hun Manet would be content as a teacher—a professor of economics at a top university. Some observers think that Hun Manet will lead a less repressive regime and be more receptive to Western calls for human rights although there is no evidence that he may be more open than his father. Prime Minister Hun Sen believed that the situation in Cambodia would become unstable if he continued to stay in office and that it is “very necessary for a new Cabinet of all young people” to assume control as “they are responsible for the future”. According to a transcription released by the Khmer Times, PM Hun Sen said himself that “the resignation of the Prime Minister is a great sacrifice to ensure the peace of the nation”. However, there are those who also believe that as long as Hun Sen is still there, nobody is going to move against the CPP and Hun Sen will remain the man in charge, even if his son is the Prime Minister.
PM Hun Sen’s resignation announcement marks the end of his reign for nearly four decades, and Hun Manet will need to work hard to convince others of his capability and competency to remain in the top job.
Marcos signs the Philippines’ first sovereign wealth fund into law
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr signed into law a bill creating the country’s first sovereign wealth fund that intends to bring in much “needed” investments to the Philippines.
The USD 9 billion sovereign wealth fund, known as the Maharlika Investment Fund (MIF), is patterned after the sovereign wealth funds of countries such as Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore, aimed at boosting economic development and accelerating the country’s growth. The MIF will draw most of its funds from the national government, including the central bank, gaming revenues, and two state-owned banks while private banks and companies will also be allowed to invest. Moreover, the MIF will have an investment body called the Maharlika Investment Corp that will be in charge of the governance and management of the fund, and which will be fully operational by the end of 2024.
President Marcos pledged that the fund would “leverage with a small fraction of the considerable but underutilised investable funds of the government, and stimulate the economy without the disadvantage of additional fiscal and debt burden.” However, some have raised questions over whether the significance of the MIF is fully appreciated by Filipinos. According to a poll, only 20 percent of Filipino adults said they were informed about the establishment of the MIF and 47% said they knew little about it.
The approval of this bill will create a larger pool of investment for development in the Philippines. However, the government needs to continuously ensure that this project is transparent and for the benefit of all Filipinos.
The political situation in Thailand
After the Move Forward Party’s leader—Pita Limjaroenrat—failed to muster up enough support in the parliament, the political situation in Thailand has become even more tense.
Following Pita’s second attempt at being nominated for the Prime Minister (PM) position, the Thai legislators voted against his re-nomination less than a week after his first attempt was rejected. This vote was held after the Thai Constitutional Court suspended Pita as a member of parliament over his shareholding in a media company, which is prohibited according to the Thai Constitution. The Thai lawmakers also voted by a large margin to rule that Pita could not be considered for the post a second time.
In a surprise, the plan to hold a third parliamentary sitting to choose a PM was postponed due to a petition to review a decision to block the re-nomination of Mr. Pita as a prime ministerial candidate on July 19. This led Human Rights Watch to describe the action as a manipulation to block a popularly elected political leader from forming a government, while hundreds of Pita’s supporters gathered peacefully in Bangkok to protest against the efforts to stop him from becoming the Prime Minister. The Move Forward Party will allow the Pheu Thai Party to lead its eight-party coalition in forming a government and will nominate a candidate from Pheu Thai when parliament convenes again.
The path towards electing a new prime minister in Thailand is nowhere near complete and it is now up to the Pheu Thai Party to come up with their own candidate for the top job.
AUTHOR
Sovinda Po is a Research Assistant at the Griffith Asia Institute.
