Today marks the 46th anniversary of “January 7th” or “Victory Day” to commemorate the end of the genocidal regime under the Khmer Rouge. Hun Sen, president of Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), was proud that the new government, led by his eldest son Hun Manet, showed great achievements with development, especially with regards to economic growth and political stability. He said he initially empathised with the public over concerns about the transfer of power.
“Enough time has passed to understand what the successors have done in the past 16 months to make an assessment that the government did a good job beyond our expectation,” Hun Sen said when addressing around 20,000 CPP members and students who attended the anniversary on Tuesday in Phnom Penh.
Hun Manet was appointed prime minister in August 2023 after the CPP won a landslide election that year.
Victory Day marks the end of the genocide and to remind Khmer citizens that liberal parties in Cambodia have “constantly strengthened democracy, human rights and rule of law” since then.
“I understood the feeling and experience relating to the work efficiency compared to the previous government and the following government. We can say they are more efficient than the old generation,” Hun Sen said.
He said the new government led by Hun Manet has recorded big accomplishments such as maintaining peace, political stability, territorial sovereignty, notably security, public order and economic growth, as well as stable inflation.
He also highlighted the groundbreaking of the $1.7 billion Funan Techo canal aimed at boosting the economy and strengthening political independence via water transportation. The construction is expected to be completed in 2028.
Furthermore, he added, the new government withdrew from the regional Cambodia-Lao-Vietnam Development Triangle Area agreement, as well as established a fund to develop infrastructure along the border. He added that efforts by “extremist groups” were unsuccessful in provoking insecurity in the country.
Hun Sen thanked senior officials who stepped down from their position, such as Heng Samrin, who gave up his National Assembly presidency, Say Chhum, his Senate president post, as well as several deputy prime ministers, who passed on their posts to their successors to continue the work.
Earlier, he said, January 7, 1979 was a historic day for Cambodian people who overthrew the genocidal regime.

On March 18, 1970, a coup led by Lon Nol saw a peaceful nation succumb to war, which killed more than half a million people and destroyed infrastructure. It was followed by a massive genocide under the Pol Pot regime on April 17, 1975, Hun Sen reminded.
He reiterated that the government is committed to expedite socio-economic development with an ambitious vision to become an upper-middle-income by 2030 and a high-income country by 2050. Amid the impending graduation from the United Nations’ Least Developed Countries (LDC) status, significant accomplishments are in progress.
“No doubt, the Cambodian People’s Party is a symbol of change,” Hun Sen said, adding that the “people”, in reference to the opposition, no longer need to chant “change and change” anymore.
“Please trust our changes,” Hun Sen said.
Local and international communities have called on Cambodia to restore political space, deteriorating human rights and backsliding democracy after the main opposition, Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was dissolved in 2017 and its leader Kem Sokha convicted for treason for colluding with foreign powers.
Hun Sen asked institutions to strengthen law enforcement against those who were still against the January 7 victory day notion and wanted the return of the genocidal regime and war in Cambodia.

Ly Sothearayuth, secretary-general of Candlelight Party, said there has been no significant change compared to previous years, noting that the political and democratic space remain restricted.
“Despite calls to release prisoners of conscience, including officials, political activists, social activists and environmental advocates, they still are in custody even after being in detention for months or even years,” he said.
Democracy inherently involves diverse perspectives on management, leadership and development of the country, Sothearayuth remarked. Opposing views should not be labeled as terrorism or treated as enemies because an approach as such does not benefit society as a whole, he said.
“If the government claims that there is political stability, why create a law to label opponents as terrorists?” he asked. On the contrary, the law only results in “greater division” in Khmer society, which is not conducive to the spirit of national unification and national development reconciliation.
He urged the CPP-led government to expand the civic space and political freedom to allow for competition based on democratic principles and joint national development.
“We also call for the release of prisoners of conscience or political prisoners so that they have a right to participate in social and political activities in accordance with their principles and conscience,” he said.
Political analyst Em Sovannara said Cambodia’s preparation to graduate from LDC status is a positive milestone and must be celebrated, especially after the UN’s endorsement in December. While the five-year transition period provides adequate preparation time, he cautioned that Cambodia will experience benefit loss associated with its current LDC status.
“If we look at the benefits Cambodia receives from the European Union [EU], the country should not rush to graduate from least-developed status,” he said.
“This allows us to continue to gain tax benefits from Europe or borrow money from other countries at favorable interest rates with mutual understanding.”
Sovannara said the government should be committed to protect democracy, as requested by the EU, by promoting freedom and expanding democratic space to safeguard the remaining 80% of the Everything But Arms trade preferences, having lost 20% in recent years.
“We have many stories of arrests of activists, prisoners of conscience, and journalists,” he said. “We have a press law. If there is a mistake, it must be corrected according to the press law not as a crime of incitement [under the Criminal Code]. This is a violation of existing laws.”
Sovannara said while the January 7th Peace Anniversary highlights the absence of war, “peace in Cambodia was still incomplete”.
“The justice system in our society has not been fully established, nor has it shown that it has true rule of law,” he shared. “It has failed to meet people’s expectations in their pursuit of justice.”
He alleged that not many people have benefited from the peace process or the efforts of peacemakers. Some individuals, including prominent figures with Neak Oknha and Lok Oknha titles, exploited their power by seizing land and houses, causing citizens not to trust the authorities.
Teav Bav, 72, from Takeo province, who lived through Khmer Rouge said he had to work hard and had very little to eat.
“I had to work with no time to stop. I climbed palm trees and shepherd cows and only managed to eat rice porridge [during that period],” he said. “I struggled to survive day and night.”
Bav also said in the aftermath of the genocide, he felt like he was “reborn” and does not want to see a repeat of the war.
