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TRAPAING CHOUR, Cambodia – Prime Minister Hun Sen, the only leader that two-thirds of Cambodians have ever known, is not inclined to leave things to chance.
To ensure victory in Sunday's general election, Hun Sen, a former Khmer Rouge leader who today ranks as Asia's longest-serving leader, has done almost everything to make the odds clear. be good
In November, a Cambodian court with little reputation for judicial independence dissolved Hun Sen's ruling party in the 2013 elections. Its leader, Kem Sokha, is now imprisoned for treason, accused to have plotted with the United States to overthrow the government. (He denies the accusations.)
During the past year, the independent and piecemeal news media that once reported government corruption and impunity from friends have been silenced. The websites that conveyed negative images of Mr. Hun Sen and his Cambodian People's Party were blocked on the eve of the vote.
Western non-governmental organizations, which had injected money into Cambodia after decades of conflict and genocide, were expelled. Mr Hun Sen said they were also trying to overthrow his administration, which critics have called more and more authoritarian.
With all the machinations of Mr. Hun Sen to control the vote, the question for Cambodians is not who to win; there is, after all, only one answer, and it is the man whose name honors thousands of schools across the country, of the l '39; Techo Hun Sen Military Technical Institute at Hun Sen High School Sereypheap
. Cambodians are so deeply disenchanted by a rigged election that they will stay out of the polls. Given the importance given by Hun Sen, 65, to secure his victory, a low turnout would be an embarrassment.
In a speech Friday, Hun Sen warned against a boycott of the elections. "Those who will not vote, and who are incited by national traitors, are the ones who destroy democracy," he said.
In addition to Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party, the other 19 parties contest the elections. tiny "firefly" parties that glow during the campaign, then disappear.
On Saturday, El Sitha, a former Cambodian National Rescue Party District Councilor – the main opposition party now disbanded – had a hint of humorous opposition to Mr. Hun Sen can catalyze. After posting a group photo on Facebook of fingers devoid of ink that shows who voted, Mr. El Sitha was summoned to his local police station.
"They dissolved my party, what can I do?" Sitha asked, adding, "the way to win is to sleep at home."
Flush with money from foreign aid, Cambodia was supposed to prove that democracy could be fostered by a concerned global community. After the fall of the Khmer Rouge in 1979, the communist radicals who supervised the death of at least a fifth of the population, Cambodia was administered first by the Vietnamese and then by the United Nations.
The superiority of a multi-party democracy, Mr. Hun Sen, who entered the ranks of leadership during the Vietnamese regime, reversed this plan. Even though he maintained the illusion of electoral politics, he foiled a co-prime minister and purged those who challenged his power.
And as US influence diminishes in the region, Mr. Hun Sen has the support of the Chinese, including During the campaign, Chinese diplomats appeared at events supporting Mr. Hun Sen. The Chinese ambassador to Cambodia spoke contemptuously of the rumor of the European Union on new sanctions against the country.
million. Hun Sen dismissed the love, calling China as an unshakable friend and accusing the West of trying to foment a color revolution in Cambodia.
Sok Eysan, spokesman for the Cambodian People's Party, rejected some of Hun Sen's most inflammatory remarks.
"It's just politics," he said. "Our Cambodian foreign policy is to be friends with all who respect us."
But Mr. Sok Eysan quickly changed gears. "We do not like any country that interferes in our country or tries to control us," he said. "WE"
Wednesday in Washington, the House of Representatives passed a law that would pave the way for sanctions against Cambodians who undermined the country's democracy.If the Senate approves them, the assets of offenders in the United States United could be stranded and entry into the country could be banned.
Given the widespread feeling that Sunday's vote is a sham, US, European and Japanese election observers have refused to observe Instead, one of the largest groups responsible for inspecting polling stations is supervised by one of Mr. Hun Sen's sons. The Chinese also sent a delegation
Unlike 2013, where a wave of juvenile voters almost propelled opposition to victory, this election season was devoid of energy that galvanized the last. Pro-Governmentally eminent Friday, Veasna's Tower, a construction worker, sits on a sidewalk with his wife, Yen Be, clutching a plastic bag filled with bread and water distributed by the organizers of the rally
. Visit Veasna said that he had been ordered to attend by the head of his municipality. He also received $ 5 to attend the rally, he said.
"We live under their direction, so we can not say anything or do anything," he said. "But we can mess up our ballots – that's what I plan to do."
Others, however, said that they admired Mr. Hun Sen for delivering more 30 years of peace and stability, enabling the development of Cambodia's export-oriented economy. The roofs of the city are being transformed with high-rise projects often financed by foreign investments. "Hun Sen grew up in the poor provinces, so he understands our problems," said Sok Dorn, a noodle seller. "I hope his sons will replace him someday."
The Prime Minister's children are scattered in military, government, and business positions. At least two have been considered for a possible list of US sanctions.
Amid the rice fields and lowlands just two hours from Phnom Penh, the capital, a group of villagers from the commune of Trapaing Chour said their years of protest did not have any relief. They said that their lands had been seized by two companies, which were linked by international rights activists either to the ruling party legislators or to Mr. Hun Sen's sister
. Peung Thy served the nation as part of an elite bodyguard unit formed to protect Mr. Hun Sen. He fought during a brief border conflict with Thailand. But when his 10 hectares of land were confiscated to make way for a sugar cane plantation belonging to Ly Yong Phat, a Cambodian tycoon, Mr. Peung Thy began to lose his sense of patriotism
"I thought I was serving my country, but I only served the wealthy and powerful people who stole my land. "
In 2015, Mr. Peung Thy joined a small political party founded by a popular popular activist named Kem Ley. But less than a year after the birth of the party, Mr. Kem Ley was shot dead while he was buying his morning coffee in Phnom Penh. Other activists were also killed, especially those who were investigating illegal businesses such as wood.
Back in Phnom Penh, Perk Chrep, a 30-year-old worker in the important Cambodian garment industry, asked if she was going to boycott the elections. vote. The director of her China-owned factory, she said, had warned seamstresses repeatedly that if they did not come back to work with ink on their fingers, they would not need it anymore. to come back.
Opposition to the 2013 elections, Mr. Hun Sen courted this demographic group, regularly organizing rallies where he distributed envelopes of money.
But Ms. Perk Chrep, who earns $ 300 a month with overtime pay, said she did not want to sell her vote. She mourned the dissolution of Cambodia's National Rescue Party, which worked to guarantee the basic rights of clothing workers.
Mrs. Perk Chrep, seated in a single room devoid of furniture, said that she wanted to send a message to Mr. Hun Sen.
"I want him to think about what he promised the Cambodians," she said. "Does he really think that he has accomplished many things besides adding more years to his reign?"
Sun Narin and Len Leng contributed to reports in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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