Cambodia’s last independent news site, Voice of Democracy (VOD) closes its doors for an article judged “slanderous” towards the government, and more precisely Hun Manet, the son of the Prime Minister, Hun Sen, and his prospective successor. “As Prime Minister, my decision is final”signified, on February 13, the autocrat in power for thirty-eight years, after having first given an ultimatum to VOD to demand “apologies”then judged his “regret” insufficient. The media license has been revoked.
Deputy Commander-in-Chief, behind his father, of the Cambodian Armed Forces, Hun Manet, 45, is, since 2021, ” prepared “ to succeed him by all sorts of formal adjustments – the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), in power, for example, made him its future candidate for prime minister. The article that angered the regime, published in Khmer on February 9, claimed that he had signed, on behalf of his father, the approval of humanitarian aid for the earthquake in Turkey – in violation of the protocol which authorizes such a delegation of power only in favor of a minister. VOD further quoted a government spokesperson judging “allowed” the alleged action of Hun Manet. This information, according to Hun Sen, would be “false”. The spokesperson is absent subscribers.
Preparing for succession
The misstep of VOD, if any, came as Hun Sen and his son began a three-day official visit to China in Beijing – a way observers say is securing support for the succession. to come from the generous protector of whom Cambodia has become an unfailing ally in the region. China “will resolutely oppose external forces that interfere in the internal affairs of Cambodia”, has also promised President Xi Jinping to his guests, according to the Xinhua agency – that is, in the language of the Chinese Communist Party, the liberal press, NGOs and pro-democracy activists.
In Cambodia, the closure of VOD makes it possible to neutralize the only influential independent media with 1.8 million subscribers on its Facebook page in Khmer, in the run-up to the legislative elections in July. In 2017, the radio had already lost its license, becoming a website, during the great wave of repression that took place six months before the 2018 legislative elections, while the other independent media were closed or bought. At the same time, the National Rescue Party of Cambodia (PSNC), the opposition party that challenged the supremacy of Hun Sen’s party in the 2013 legislative elections, was dissolved and its leaders imprisoned or exiled.
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