Hun Sen’s life on the small screen

Now a TV star: Hun Sen posing for a selfie in this photo taken during a ceremony of a project for flood protection and drainage works in Phnom Penh in this filepic. — AFP

Gunfire crackles, trucks explode and a shooting star announces the birth of a future ruler in an 80-episode dramatisation of Cambodian leader Hun Sen’s life, now airing three days a week in the run-up to one-sided national elections.

Cambodia goes to the polls on July 23, with the 70-year-old prime minister effectively running unopposed as he seeks to cement his legacy and prepares to hand the reins to son Hun Manet.