Asia | Hun Sen’s handsome monument

Cambodia’s autocrat is fixing his succession

That is making the country’s upcoming election a farce

Prime Minister Hun Sen gestures towards the Win-Win Monument during its opening ceremony in Prek Ta Sek, Cambodia — Image: AP

Jul 13th 2023|PHNOM PENH

By the end of the 14th century, the urban sprawl of Angkor made it the world’s biggest city. Its potentate, the king of the Khmer Empire, controlled much of modern-day South-East Asia. Now all that remains of this former kingdom is Angkor Wat, a complex of ancient palaces and shrines in northern Cambodia that is visited by millions of tourists each year. And also a certain attitude displayed by the country’s current strongman. Despite his humble origins as the son of rural peasants, Hun Sen, Cambodia’s prime minister for 38 years, acts as if he is another of its fabled kings. He has even constructed a marble and concrete monument to his rule—modelled on Angkor Wat.

This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “Look on my Works”