PHNOM PENH
\n Cambodians voted on Sunday in a one-sided election certain to prolong the ruling party\u2019s dominance of politics, clearing the path for a historic leadership transition and the end of the reign of one of the world\u2019s longest-serving premiers.
\nThe contest is effectively a one-horse race, with Prime Minister Hun Sen\u2019s Cambodian People\u2019s Party (CPP), a political behemoth with a vast war chest, facing no viable opponent after a ruthless, years-long crackdown on its rivals.
\nActivists have dismissed the election as a sham, with CPP up against 17 mostly obscure parties, none of which won seats in the last election, in 2018.
\nLong queues formed at polling stations through the morning. By noon (0500 GMT), 6.2 million of the 9.7 million eligible voters had cast ballots, according to National Election Committee official Dim Sovannarom.
\nFormer Khmer Rouge guerrilla Hun Sen, 70, has led Cambodia for 38 years and has brushed off Western concern about the election\u2019s credibility, determined to prevent any obstacle in his carefully calibrated transition to his anointed successor and eldest son, Hun Manet.
\nNo timeframe had been given for the handover until Thursday, when Hun Sen signaled his son \u201ccould be\u201d prime minister next month, depending on \u201cwhether Hun Manet will be able to do it or not.\u201d He needs to win a National Assembly seat to become prime minister, which is likely.
\nHun Manet, 45, dressed in a green safari shirt, smiled and posed for selfies with supporters after voting in the capital Phnom Penh before a throng of media.
\nHe ducked questions on the prospect of becoming premier and whether he would rule differently from his father. \u201cNo comment please, no comment please. I\u2019ve just come to vote,\u201d he said in English, smiling.
\nAnalysts had expected the transition to come mid-term, giving time for Hun Manet to earn legitimacy with the public and political elite.
\n\u201cTransferring power while he is still physically and mentally well allows Hun Sen to strongly protect his son from any internal challenges,\u201d said Gordon Conochie, adjunct research fellow at La Trobe University and author of a new book on Cambodia\u2019s democracy.
\n\u201cAs long as Hun Sen is around, nobody will move against Hun Manet.\u201d
\nHun Manet has given few media interviews and no clues over his vision for Cambodia and its 16 million people.
\nHe earned a master\u2019s degree at New York University and a doctorate at the University of Bristol, both in economics, and attended the West Point military academy, helping him rise through the ranks of Cambodia\u2019s military to army chief and deputy armed forces commander.
\nMajor powers will be watching closely for signs of whether Hun Manet will maintain the authoritarian status quo of his father or pursue greater liberalization and a more Western style of democracy.
\nA key focus will be if he seeks to steer Cambodia out of the orbit of China and patch up ties with the United States that have perennially been strained by his father\u2019s iron-fisted approach.
\nHun Manet received a rock-star reception at a big rally on Friday, where he promised a vote for the CPP was for a bright future\u201d and warned of unspecified \u201cextremist\u201d attempts to \u201cdestroy the election.\u201d
\nThe rhetoric echoes that of Hun Sen in his vitriol against opponents and pre-emptive strikes since May that have included disqualifying the CPP\u2019s only meaningful rival, the Candlelight Party, over a paperwork technicality.
\nAuthorities also banned self-exiled opposition figurehead Sam Rainsy and 16 allies from voting and contesting elections for two decades for urging Cambodians to destroy their ballots.
\nSome did that on Sunday, posting pictures on social media of spoiled ballots, some with writing that disparaged Hun Sen, calling him a coward. Pro-government Freshnews said authorities were investigating, while other media reported one person was arrested for taking a ballot home.
\nHun Sen cast his vote just outside the capital, kissing his ballot paper before posting it and smiling for cameras with an ink-stained finger.
\nHis CPP\u2019s selling point has been its rural development and ensuring peace and stability after decades of war, which helped spur average growth of more than 7 percent until 2019, creating jobs in garment manufacturing and construction.
\n\u201cI don\u2019t really need more from the new leader,\u201d voter Nin Sinath, 58, said on Hun Sen\u2019s succession. \u201cI have what I want now, we have peace and prosperity for the people already.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PHNOM PENH Cambodians voted on Sunday in a one-sided election certain to prolong the ruling party\u2019s dominance of politics, clearing the path for a historic leadership transition and the end of the reign of one of the world\u2019s longest-serving premiers. The contest is effectively a one-horse race, with Prime Minister Hun Sen\u2019s Cambodian People\u2019s Party […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":344979,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-344944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n