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Cambodians go to the polls on Sunday, July 29, but despite the choice of 20 political parties, many people fear that nothing will change.
A brief history of Hun Sen
After 33 years in power, Cambodian Prime Minister and Leader of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) Hun Sen is the longest serving prime minister in the world.
A former Khmer Rouge genocide official who killed, starved, or labored to death two million Cambodians in the 1970s, he used a combination of populist politics, strong tactics, and even a military coup in 1997 to preserve his position.
<img src = "https://sl.sbs.com.au/public/image/file/96155eab-fbaa-4144-bf72-6c28f1bf8cf7" alt = "A CPP volunteer in power distributes leaflets to clients in a cafe in Phnom Penh
AFP / Getty Images
"Nobody wants to go vote, because the party they like is missing," said Kim, a tuk-tuk driver in Phnom Penh
"People believe when they vote or they do not vote, the result will be the same. The government will win. "His colleague Bounhoeun added:" 80% of Cambodians want a change and would vote for Kem Sohka if they could. But we can not because they put him in jail.
Who are the candidates?
In addition to Hun Sen, there are 19 other candidates representing small parties on ballet, but according to LICADHO, a Cambodian human rights organization, all parties except one are aligned with the PCP: the Democratic Basic Party (GDP)
Two years ago, Kem Ley, co-founder of GDP, was shot dead in Phnom Penh. He asked for an investigation into Hun Sen's finances on the basis of a report by Global Witness that estimated the Prime Minister's family's wealth at over $ 270 million
The current GDP leader, Saing Koma, rejects calls for a boycott of the election and what Southeast Asians often call "confrontational politics". This week, Saing Koma is paying particular attention to what he says. When SBS News contacted him via his mobile phone, the man who responded insisted that we had a wrong number even though the number had been checked.
Naly Pilorge, director of LICADHO, explained why such action was necessary. "For security reasons, I do not speak on the phone, you can find me on WhatsApp, Signal or Wire," she said, adding, "I can not comment on the elections."
Forty-five countries have signed a declaration urging the Cambodian government to reinstate opposition, ensure free and fair elections and release all political prisoners
"We are particularly concerned by the conditions in which the opposition leader, Kem Sokha, is detained, "reads the statement made to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. "He would be isolated, without adequate access to health care, subject to intrusive observation, and under other conditions, such as constant light."
Australians-Cambodians Protest Hun Sen's Presence at the ASEAN Summit in Sydney in March
AFP / Getty Images
L & # 39; Australia was notably absent from "We should be concerned because Australia has invested a lot of time and energy and financial resources in Cambodia," says Dr. Lee Morgenbesser of the School of Government and International Relations. from Griffith University.
"We played an important role The peacekeeping mission in Cambodia in the early 1990s continued to invest money to build democracy there, but we do not have the money. have nothing to show for that.
"What we have, it's a moral responsibility this weekend."
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