Cambodia

Cambodia’s Hun Sen’s party has been happy to hold elections as long as it knows it is going to win. After more than three decades in his post, the prime minister and former Khmer Rouge commander says he has decided to continue for 10 more years to ensure stability. Voters seem less keen on his unending tenure – and the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) knows it. A gradual expansion of space for civil society, activism and political activity went into reverse after the opposition united and did better than expected in 2013’s poll. The process accelerated last year as the CPP grew more nervous. But there is widespread anger over rampant corruption and land grabs.

Now the government has charged opposition leader Kem Sokha with treason, and has threatened to dissolve the Cambodia National Rescue Party if it does not disown him. Meanwhile, independent media have been silenced: a staggering $6.3m tax bill forced the Cambodia Daily to close , and radio stations carrying programmes from Voice of America and Radio Free Asia were shut down for supposed technical and administrative violations. Attacks on NGOs are intensifying. The real shift in Cambodia is towards less Western involvement, not more. The economy has grown and aid flows have diminished, reducing the government’s need to placate Western donors. Some hope the CPP may yet pull back a little. Pressure from diplomats has had some effect in the past. But the broad tendency across the region is undeniable and alarming.