The country’s National Assembly approved the appointment of Hun Many, according to state media, some six months after the West Point-educated Hun Manet officially assumed the role of prime minister. - Bloomberg
PHNOM PENH (Bloomberg): The younger brother of Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet was appointed deputy premier in the family’s latest move to consolidate its long-held grip on the rising South-East Asian nation.
The country’s National Assembly approved the appointment of Hun Many on Wednesday, according to state media, some six months after the West Point-educated Hun Manet officially assumed the role of prime minister.
Their father Hun Sen, who ruled Cambodia after nearly four decades, stepped aside last year as part of a broader generational shift among the ruling elite, its first since a rebellion against the Khmer Rouge in 1979.
Hun Manet contested in elections in 2023 for the first time after rising through the armed forces ranks to become a four-star general.
The ruling Cambodian People’s Party nearly swept the vote after the main opposition was barred from participating for a second time.
Last month, a Phnom Penh court denied opposition leader Kem Sokha’s request to review the terms of his home detention after he was sentenced last year to a 27-year term on a treason conviction, a decision that rights groups say was politically motivated.
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