Hun Sen

In this Cambodian name, the surname is Hun. In accordance with Cambodian custom, this person should be referred to by the given name, Sen.
His Excellency
Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo
Hun Sen
PC
ហ៊ុន សែន
Hun Sen in 2019
4th President of the Senate
Incumbent
Assumed office
3 April 2024
MonarchNorodom Sihamoni
Vice PresidentPrak Sokhonn
Ouch Borith
Preceded bySay Chhum
Prime Minister of Cambodia[a]
In office
30 November 1998 – 22 August 2023
Monarchs
Deputy
See list
Preceded byUng Huot (as First Prime Minister)
Succeeded byHun Manet
In office
26 December 1984 – 2 July 1993
Acting: 26 December 1984 – 14 January 1985
President
Deputy
See list
Preceded byChan Sy (as Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Kampuchea)
Succeeded byNorodom Ranariddh (as First Prime Minister of Cambodia)
Second Prime Minister of Cambodia
In office
2 July 1993 – 30 November 1998
MonarchNorodom Sihanouk
DeputySar Kheng
First Prime Minister
  • Norodom Ranariddh
    (1993–1997)
  • Ung Huot
    (1997–1998)
Preceded byOffice restored
Succeeded byHimself (as Prime Minister)
President of the Cambodian People's Party
Incumbent
Assumed office
20 June 2015
Vice President
Preceded byChea Sim
Chairman of the Supreme Advisory Council of the King of Cambodia
Incumbent
Assumed office
22 August 2023
MonarchNorodom Sihamoni
Minister of Foreign Affairs
In office
1988–1990
Prime MinisterHimself
Preceded byKong Korm
Succeeded byHor Namhong
In office
8 January 1979 – December 1986
Prime Minister
Preceded byIeng Sary
Succeeded byKong Korm
Deputy Prime Minister of the People's Republic of Kampuchea
In office
1981–1985
PresidentHeng Samrin
Prime Minister
Member of the National Assembly
In office
14 June 1993 – 2 April 2024
ConstituencyKampong Cham (1993–1998)
Kandal (1998–2024)
Personal details
Born
Hun Bunal

(1952-08-05) 5 August 1952 (age 72)
Peam Kaoh Sna, Stung Trang, Kampong Cham, Cambodia, French Indochina
Political partyCambodian People's Party
Spouse
​
(m. 1976)​
Children6, including Manet, Manith, and Many
Parent(s)Hun Neang
Dee Yon
Alma mater(Vietnam) National Academy of Public Administration
AwardsGrand Order of National Merit
Signature
WebsiteOfficial website
Military service
Allegiance Khmer Rouge/Democratic Kampuchea
 People's Republic of Kampuchea
 State of Cambodia
 Cambodia
Branch/service Khmer Rouge
Kampuchean United Front for National Salvation/Kampuchean People's Revolutionary Army
Cambodian People's Army
Royal Cambodian Army
Years of service1970–1999
Rank Five-Star General[1][2]
CommandsDemocratic Kampuchea – Eastern Region
Battles/warsCambodian Civil War  (WIA)
Cambodian-Vietnamese War

Samdech Hun Sen (/hʊn sɛn/; Khmer: ហ៊ុន សែន, UNGEGN: Hŭn Sên [hun saen]; born 5 August 1952) is a Cambodian politician, and former army general who currently serves as the president of the Senate. He previously served as the prime minister of Cambodia from 1985 to 1993 and from 1998 to 2023.[3] Hun Sen is the longest-serving head of government in Cambodia's history.[4][5] He is the president of the Cambodian People's Party (CPP), which has governed Cambodia since 1979, and has served as a member of the Senate since 2024. His full honorary title is Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen (Khmer: សម្តេច អគ្គមហាសេនាបតី តេជោ ហ៊ុន សែន [sɑmɗac ʔakkeaʔ mɔhaː senaː paɗəj tecoː hun saen]; meaning "Lord Prime Minister and Supreme Military Commander Hun Sen").[6]

Born Hun Bunal,[b] he changed his name to Hun Sen in 1972, two years after joining the Khmer Rouge as a soldier. He fought for the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodian Civil War and was a battalion commander in Democratic Kampuchea until defecting in 1977 and fighting alongside Vietnamese forces in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. From 1979 to 1986 and again from 1987 to 1990, he served as Cambodia's foreign minister in the Vietnamese occupied government.[7] At age 26, he was also the world's youngest foreign minister.[8]

Hun Sen rose to the premiership in January 1985 when the one-party National Assembly appointed him to succeed Chan Sy, who had died in office in December 1984. He held the position until the 1993 UN-backed elections which resulted in a hung parliament, with opposition party FUNCINPEC winning the majority of votes. Hun Sen refused to accept the result.[9] After negotiations with FUNCINPEC, Norodom Ranariddh and Hun Sen agreed to simultaneously serve as First and Second Prime Minister, until the coalition broke down and Sen orchestrated a coup d'état in 1997 which toppled Ranariddh. Between 1998 and 2023, Hun Sen led the CPP to consecutive and often contentious election victories, overseeing rapid economic growth and development, but also corruption, deforestation and human rights violations.[10][11][12][13] In 2013, Hun Sen and the CPP were reelected with a significantly reduced majority amidst a resurgent opposition. Allegations of voter fraud and irregularities led to unprecedented anti-government protests. In 2018, he was elected to a sixth and final term in a largely unopposed poll after the Supreme Court dissolved the main opposition party, with the CPP winning every seat in the National Assembly.[14] He led the country during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and Cambodia's third chairmanship of ASEAN; and, after the 2023 election formally announced his resignation as prime minister in favour of his son, Hun Manet.[15] He remains as party leader and in 2024, was appointed president of the Senate, ensuring his continued influence over the country's politics.[16]

Hun Sen has been prominent in communist, Marxist–Leninist, and now state capitalist and national conservative political parties, and although Khmer nationalism has been a consistent trait of all of them, he is thought to lack a core political ideology.[17][18] He has been described as a "wily operator who destroys his political opponents" by The Sydney Morning Herald[19] and as a dictator who has assumed highly centralized power in Cambodia and considerable personal wealth using violence and corruption,[20][21][22][23] including a personal guard said to rival the country's regular army.[24]


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ ppp_webadmin (31 December 2009). "ROYAL LETTER: Sihanouk praises five star leaders". Phnom Penh Post. Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  2. ^ Party, Cambodian People's (27 December 2009). "Welcome to Cambodian People's Party- CPP News and Information World Wide: His Majesty Promotes Cambodian Leaders to Five-Star General". Retrieved 5 December 2018.
  3. ^ "Cambodia's prime minister has wrecked a 25-year push for democracy". The Economist. 12 October 2017. Archived from the original on 14 October 2017. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  4. ^ "Cambodia's Hun Sen to resign after four decades and appoint son as PM". BBC News. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  5. ^ "Cambodia's Hun Sen, Asia's longest serving leader, says he'll step down and his son will take over". Associated Press. 26 July 2023. Retrieved 28 July 2023.
  6. ^ "Welcome, Lord Prime Minister: Cambodian media told to use leader's full royal title". The Guardian. 12 May 2016. Archived from the original on 7 January 2019. Retrieved 26 September 2016.
  7. ^ "30 Years of Hun Sen". Human Rights Watch. 12 January 2015. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  8. ^ Strangio, Sebastian (2014). Hun Sen's Cambodia. Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-19072-4.
  9. ^ Branigin, William (11 June 1993). "PHNOM PENH REJECTS RESULTS OF ELECTION". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  10. ^ "Cambodian Parliament launches era of one-party rule". The Straits Times. 5 September 2018. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 7 July 2020.
  11. ^ "Hun Sen Elected President of Ruling Cambodian People's Party". Radio Free Asia. 22 June 2015. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 3 December 2016.
  12. ^ Nachemson, Andrew. "EU Partially Withdraws Cambodia Trade Deal Amid Rights Concerns". thediplomat.com. Archived from the original on 30 November 2020. Retrieved 9 December 2020.
  13. ^ Campbell, Charlie (14 May 2013). "In Cambodia, China Fuels Deadly Illegal Logging Trade". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  14. ^ "Cambodia: Hun Sen re-elected in landslide victory after brutal crackdown". The Guardian. 29 July 2018. Archived from the original on 29 July 2018. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  15. ^ "Prime Minister Hun Sen announces resignation". Khmer Times. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  16. ^ "Hun Manet will become new Prime Minister on August 22nd". Khmer Times. 26 July 2023. Archived from the original on 27 July 2023. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  17. ^ Slocomb, Margaret (2006). "The Nature and Role of Ideology in the Modern Cambodian State". Journal of Southeast Asian Studies. 37 (3): 375–395. doi:10.1017/S0022463406000695. ISSN 0022-4634. JSTOR 20071782. S2CID 144936898. Archived from the original on 20 January 2022. Retrieved 27 July 2023.
  18. ^ "40 Years After Khmer Rouge Rule, Cambodia Grapples With Legacy". Time. Retrieved 13 December 2020.
  19. ^ "Australia asks Cambodia to take asylum seekers amid violent crackdown". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 February 2014. Archived from the original on 28 August 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2014.
  20. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  21. ^ Cuddy, Alice. "New report exposes Cambodian PM's vast family wealth". www.aljazeera.com. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 8 December 2020.
  22. ^ "Tenth out of Ten". The Economist (Banyan, Asia). 17 November 2012. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  23. ^ Ellis-Petersen, Hannah; correspondent, Hannah Ellis-Petersen South-east Asia (28 June 2018). "Cambodian PM now 'fully fledged military dictator', says report". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 15 July 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2023. {{cite news}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  24. ^ Fuller, Thomas (5 January 2014). "Cambodia Steps Up Crackdown on Dissent With Ban on Assembly". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020. Retrieved 8 January 2014.