Cambodia’s opposition staggers on in face of Hun Sen crackdown

Phnom Penh, Cambodia – Outside a Cambodian provincial court late last month, Kong Mouyly pleaded with journalists and civil society to help secure her father’s release. Just minutes before, Kong Sam An had been among five opposition supporters sentenced to seven years in prison for allegedly plotting to overthrow Cambodia’s government. “My father is not guilty. Please, NGOs help us,” Mouyly, 31, pleaded in a video released on social media. Next to her, Mouyly’s 65-year-old mother Eab Sour held her hands together and begged: “Please help us.” Such cries of desperation are becoming increasingly common in Cambodia, where long time leader Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party appear to be pursuing an unrelenting campaign to wipe out all opposition to their rule. The main opposition party – the Cambodian National Rescue Party – was dissolved in 2017, and its members and supporters have been targeted by authorities ever since. Kong Sam An and his co-defendants were among more than 140 CNRP activists arrested as of the end of September. Officials in the governing party have made it clear it is determined to completely eradicate the organisation. “There is no future for CNRP since November 16, 2017,” CPP spokesman Sok Eysan told Al Jazeera. “CNRP’s supporters, if they continue to support the party, continue to stay in jail.” The CPP – in power for four decades – wants to avoid the threat it faced in 2013 when the then-recently-formed CNRP came close to ousting it from power in that year’s general election. Cambodia’s opposition has been destroyed since 2017. A governing party spokesman told Al Jazeera’s the parties – and their supporters – have ‘no future’ [File: Mak Remissa/EPA]The near-win was historic and followed by months of mass protests calling for the government to step down. After a period of relative calm, the CNRP was targeted again in 2017 after commune elections revealed the party had retained its popularity among Cambodians and was likely to do well in general elections scheduled for the following year. The bleak situation raises the question about how or whether the CNRP can ever regain a place in Cambodia, which has been effectively transformed into a one-party state. Trial, exile The opposition leaders have been targeted by the government. One, Kem Sokha, is in Cambodia but under court supervision while awaiting the resumption of his trial on alleged charges of treason. The other, Sam Rainsy, fled the country in 2015 for fear of arrest and now faces several charges, widely seen as politically motivated. While Kem Sokha is restricted from engaging in political activity under the threat of being returned to prison, Rainsy has adopted an increasingly aggressive approach. style="width: 100%; height: 100%; position: absolute; top: 0; bottom: 0; right: 0; left: 0;">