In Cambodia, democracy is stuck in infancy

Twenty years under a so-called multi-party electoral system should have been long enough for Cambodia’s democracy to mature to a certain degree, but this is not the case. The country’s strongman ruler, Hun Sen, has done nothing over the past two decades to support the fundamental principles of democracy.

Cambodia will hold a general election in the final week of this month, with high expectations that his Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) will win an overwhelming majority of seats in parliament – as usual. The main opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, is still in exile and has only a slim chance of returning home to campaign for the upcoming poll, although he has said he will do whatever he can to participate in the election.

There were high hopes for the multi-party electoral system to become well established in Cambodia after the first post-civil-war election, sponsored by the United Nations, in 1993. Many political parties registered and campaigned and some won seats in parliament. 

However, it was the CPP and Hun Sen who changed the game. The CPP lost in that first election following the vanquishing of the Khmer Rouge, but Hun Sen bargained his way to a government post. He became co-premier with the royalist Funcinpec party’s Norodom Ranaridh – and then toppled Norodom from power.

The CPP began to consolidate its power with the second election, in 1998, swallowing up the majority of parliamentary seats. It has dominated the country ever since. Funcinpec splintered and no longer has the ability to challenge Hun Sen. 

Sam Rainsy held a post in the Funcinpec-led cabinet after the 1993 election but left to form his own party to challenge the dominance of Hun Sen. He has had no success to date, instead paying a high price for challenging the leadership. He has been imprisoned several times, most recently in 2009 for destroying demarcation posts on the disputed border with Vietnam.

Sam Rainsy and his party, which is named after him, nevertheless remain the main challengers to the entrenched CPP. Even in Rainsy’s absence, the party has the potential to win seats in many constituencies, notably in middle-class urban areas.  

Although Hun Sen and his CPP seem fearful of their opponent’s popularity, it will be almost impossible for the Sam Rainsy Party to win a majority of seats in parliament in this election. Such is the CPP’s grip on power that Prime Minister Hun Sen will be able to remain in office until he is 90 years old, if he wishes. However, being the longest-serving leader in Asia isn’t good enough. Nor would it bolster Hun Sen’s reputation. He was supposed to achieve great things, making Cambodia more open and as democratic as possible after years of civil war, genocide and invasion.

Hun Sen’s government is still criticised for its poor human-rights record and the suppression of political opponents. It’s now time to change the game by allowing fair play to all who want to participate in the country’s political development. Sam Rainsy and many others should allowed to return home for the coming election without fear of arrest or intimidation. 

Cambodians are mature enough for open politics. They know how to cast ballots for good politicians and good policies. If the CPP is really in that category, it should have nothing to fear, since its victory is virtually assured regardless of any challenge mounted.