Hun Sen

Infobox Prime Minister
name = Hun Sen


imagesize = 180px
order = Prime Minister of Cambodia
monarch = Norodom Sihanouk
Norodom Sihamoni
term_start = 30 November 1998
predecessor = Ung Huot
birth_date = birth date and age|1952|08|05|df=y
birth_place = Peam Koh Sna
spouse = Bun Rany
party = CPP

Hun Sen (ហ៊ុន សែន) (born April 4 1951 or August 5 1952) is the Prime Minister of Cambodia. His current, full, honorary title is: Samdech Akkak Moha Sena Pedey Decho. He is one of the key leaders of the Cambodian People's Party, which has governed Cambodia since the Vietnamese-backed overthrow of the Khmer Rouge in 1979. Since the restoration of multi-party democracy in 1993, the CPP has been in coalition with the royalist Funcinpec party and as senior partner since 1997. The title "Samdech" was attached to his name in 1993 by King Norodom Sihanouk. It is only an honorary title and does not give him further powers. He has a glass eye, the result of a wound sustained during the Khmer Rouge offensive against Phnom Penh in April 1975.

Political career

Hun Sen was selected by the Vietnamese for a leadership role in the rebel army and government they were creating for Cambodia. When the Khmer Rouge regime was overthrown, Hun Sen was appointed foreign minister of the Vietnamese-installed People's Republic of Kampuchea in 1979 and served until 1990, with a brief interruption from 1986 until 1987. As foreign minister Hun Sen was a key figure in the Paris Peace Talks which brokered peace in Indochina. He became Prime Minister in 1985, shortly after the death of Chan Sy. From 1993 until 1998 he was co-prime minister with Prince Norodom Ranariddh.

In 1997, the coalition was shaken by tensions between Ranariddh and Hun Sen. Funcinpec began to collaborate with the remaining Khmer Rouge rebels (with whom it had been allied against Hun Sen's Vietnamese-backed government during the 1980s), aiming to absorb them into its ranks. [http://www.mekong.net/cambodia/hun_sen1.htm Cambodia: Hun Sen and the 1997 Coup ] ] In response, Hun Sen launched a bloody military coup, removing Ranariddh and becoming the country's sole prime minister in 1998. Several royalist supporters were killed or tortured by CPP members, though Hun Sen denied any involvement. He also denied that his action was a coup, arguing that if he had wanted to make a coup, he would have abolished the monarchy. [ [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9707/10/cambodia/ Hun Sen claims no coup in Cambodia. CNN. July 10, 1997] ]

The elections of July 2003 resulted in a larger majority in the National Assembly for the CPP, with FUNCINPEC losing seats to the CPP and the Sam Rainsy Party. However, CPP's majority was short of the two thirds constitutionally required for the CPP to form a government alone. This deadlock was overcome and a new CPP-FUNCINPEC coalition was formed in mid-2004.

Criticism

Some political opponents of Hun Sen accuse him of being a puppet of Hanoi, due to his position in the government created by Vietnam while Cambodia was under Vietnamese military occupation and the fact that he was a prominent figure in the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (now known as the Cambodian People's Party), which governed Cambodia as a one-party state under Vietnamese military occupation from 1979 until the introduction of democracy in 1993. Hun Sen and his supporters reject such charges, claiming that he represents only the Cambodian people. More recent political opponents outside the country accuse him of being a corrupt dictator who controls the country by force.

Hun Sen was accused of ordering his personal body guards to throw hand grenades into a crowd of protesters led by Sam Rainsy in 1997, which led to the deaths of dozens and the injuring of hundreds of others.

Hun Sen has also been instrumental in the sales of land to foreign investors in 2007-08, massive deforestation, signing 1979, 1982, 1985 and 2005 treaties ceding territories to Vietnam, massive influx of illegal Vietanmese settlers to boost his support and eviction of thousands of residents from their homes. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/26/cambodia Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark report on Cambodia, a country for sale | World news | The Guardian ] ]

Family

Hun Sen is married to Bun Rany.

In October 2007, Hun Sen made a surprise announcement at a graduation ceremony in front of an audience of around 3,000 that his adopted daughter is lesbian. He has taken legal steps to disown his daughter and to prevent her from receiving any inheritance. Nonetheless, he asked the audience to accept homosexuals. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/30/pm.daughter.ap/ PM disowns daughter for being gay] - CNN, 2007-10-30] [ [http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=123136 Hun Sen disowns his lesbian daughter] - Bangkok Post, 2007-10-31]

Although Hun Sen's birthday is officially celebrated on April 4, he has revealed that his actual date of birth was August 5, 1952 (The Cambodia Daily, April 5, 2007). He apparently altered his date of birth to appear older when joining the Khmer Rouge as a youth.

He joined the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, as Senator for Life in October 2007. [See http://www.international-parliament.net/seite27.htm.]

A large base of his power comes from three million illegal Vietnamese settlers and advisors with full voting rights, while millions of Khmer people with opposition tendency were systematically deleted off voting registers in the July 2008 election.Fact|date=October 2008

Footnotes

Further reading

*Harish C. Mehta and Julie B. Mehta. 1999. "Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia". Singapore: Graham Brash Pte Ltd. ISBN 981-218-074-5
*Elizabeth Becker. 1986, 1998. "When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge". New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-891620-00-2
* [http://www.cnv.org.kh/personInfo/biography_of_hun_sen.htm Biography of Hun Sen] [http://www.cnv.org.kh/ Cambodia New Vision ~ newsletter of cabinet of Cambodia's Prime Ministerial office]