A University of Bristol graduate is set to become the next prime minister of Cambodia.
Hun Manet was officially appointed to succeed his father, Hun Sen, as the next leader of the country's main political party after a vote last week, the Guardian reported.
The Cambodian People’s party (CPP), which holds every parliamentary seat in the South East Asian country, voted unanimously for the 44-year-old to become the next head of the party.
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In 2017, the main opposition party was dissolved by the country's supreme court amid accusations of a plot to overthrow the government, a move which critics called the "end of true democracy" in Cambodia.
However, it means that Hun Manet will almost definitely be Cambodia's next prime minister.
Hun Manet graduated with a doctorate in economics at the University of Bristol in 2008. His dissertation was published in 2009 and can be found on the university's website.
His father has said that he intends to stay in power for another 10 years, so it is unclear when Hun Manet will take over from him.
He has been “groomed to succeed his father who has ruled the country for more than three decades using a combination of corruption and repression”, according to Dr Lee Morgenbesser, a senior lecturer at Griffith University’s school of government and international relations in Australia.
He told the Guardian that “while there will be a temptation to label Hun Manet as some sort of progressive or reformer, he has done nothing to deserve the benefit of the doubt”.
“He is merely the next dictator,” he says. “Since returning from the United States … he has been busy cultivating support within the CPP, winning the backing of the security apparatus, building ties with the business community, and helping to eliminate the political opposition. This should tell us all we need to know.”
In Transparency International’s 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index, Cambodia is ranked at 160 out of 180 countries.
However, Kheang Un, professor of political science at Northern Illinois University, said Hun Manet is seen as a “clean politician” and that he "is known to be well educated, competent, down to earth, and friendly".
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