Out of the ruling CPP’s 125 candidates for the national elections, at least 28 people — 22.4% — are related to someone else on the ballot, a review of the candidate list reveals.
This is a significant increase from the 2018 national elections, when only 11 candidates — 8.8% — were related to each other, according to CamboJA’s review of the 2018 candidate lists. Many of the younger generation of candidates, whose fathers hold top ministry positions, are running for elected office for the first time.
Prime Minister Hun Sen has said a new government and reshuffled cabinet will assume control by the end of August, which many observers expect could lead to a generational shift in the government’s leadership under the prime minister’s eldest son Hun Manet, while retaining key ruling families’ existing spheres of influence.
“We 70 and 80 year olds will walk away [from the cabinet], we agreed,” Hun Sen, 69 at the time, was quoted saying in 2021.
Out of the 28 people that are related to someone else on the ballot, five are related to Hun Sen.
“Do not dream of getting rid of the Hun family,” Hun Sen said in a June 30 speech. “We have supporters in the whole country for this family.”
While cabinet members are appointed directly by the prime minister, if existing ministers run for office and are then switched out after the election they could transition to National Assembly roles.
Ruling CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan said that the high percentage of candidates sharing family ties in this year’s elections is a coincidence and that each candidate has been selected due to their qualifications for office.
“Parliamentary candidates are not selected for [their relationships to] former parliamentary candidates, but are chosen by party officials based on their good grassroots work and merit,” he said.
Hun Sen has said nepotism is not at play in the CPP’s decision to nominate his son Hun Manet as its future prime minister and Phnom Penh’s first-ranked candidate.
“Let me remind you, even [if] he were not my child, we would still choose Manet [because] he has all the qualifications,” Hun Sen stated during a June 16 speech.
NEC spokesperson Hang Puthea said that political parties can nominate whichever candidates they want.
“In other countries, when the family structure is made a part of the political structure, conflicts of interest will inevitably arise,” said political analyst Meas Nee. “We don’t know what the post-2023 political system will look like, as we wait to see how the government will be able to manage a family-run system.”
The official list of National Assembly candidates for the July 23 elections include the following family ties:
Prime Minister Hun Sen is the first-ranked candidate for Kandal province. His oldest son Hun Manet is Phnom Penh’s first-ranked candidate while his third oldest son, Hun Many, is the second-ranked candidate in Kampong Speu province. Hun Sen’s brother-in-law, Nim Chantara is running as the fourth-ranked candidate for Kampot province.
Defense Minister Tea Banh and his son, Siem Reap Governor Tea Seiha, are both running for one of six available assembly seats to represent Siem Reap province. Banh is the first-ranked candidate and Seiha is the third-ranked candidate. Neither could be reached for comment. CPP spokesperson Sok Eysan said that Seiha, as the current governor, “knows the well-being of the people in Siem Reap.”
Ke Soun Sopheap, Chairman of Banteay Meanchey Youth Development Working Group, is the son of Ke Kimyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the National Authority for Combating Drugs. Sopheap is the fifth-ranked reserve candidate in Banteay Meanchey province while Kimyan is the first-ranked candidate. Ke Kimyan’s daughter is married to Interior Minister Sar Kheng’s son.
Interior Minister Sar Kheng is the first-ranked candidate for Battambang province while his son, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports Sar Sokha, is the second-ranked candidate for Prey Veng province.
Ministry of Commerce Secretary of State Cham Nimul is the daughter of the Minister of Industry, Science, Technology and Innovation Cham Prasidh. Nimul is the fifth-ranked candidate for Kampot province, while her father Prasidh is Kep province’s first-ranked candidate.
Hun Sen’s son is married to the daughter of Yim Chhayly, Deputy Prime Minister and Chairman of the Council for Agricultural and Rural Development. Chhayly is the first-ranked candidate in Kampong Cham province and his son Yim Leat is fourth-ranked in Kampong Thom province.
President of the National Assembly Heng Samrin is the first ranked candidate in Tbong Khmum province, while his son-in-law Vong Sauth, Minister of Social Affairs, Veterans and Youth Rehabilitation, is the third-ranked candidate in the province. Sauth said he was busy and hung up the phone when CamboJA reached out for his comment.
Kheng Samvada, Secretary of State for the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, is the fifth-ranked Kampong Speu candidate while her husband, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Prak Sokhonn, is the fourth-ranked candidate in Kandal province.
Tekreth Samrach, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister, is the second-ranked Preah Sihanouk province candidate and his sister, Ministry of Commerce Secretary of State Tekreth Kamrong, is the fourth-ranked candidate in Siem Reap province.
- Dith Tina, Minister of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, is the six-ranked candidate in Tbong Khmum province and his brother-in-law, Minister of Environment Say Sam Al, is the first-ranked candidate in Preah Sihanouk province.
- Minister of Planning Chhay Than is the first-ranked Kampong Speu candidate and his son Chhay Rithisen, General Director of the General Department of Land Management and Urban Planning, is the eighth-ranked candidate in Tbong Khmum province.
- In Kampong Chhnang province, Minister of Rural Development Ouk Rabun is the second-ranked candidate and his son Ouk Ponhea, Secretary of State for the same ministry, is the fourth-ranked reserve candidate.
In Tbong Khmum province, Minister of Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction Chea Sophara is the second-ranked candidate and his son-in-law, Ministry of Environment Secretary of State and Hun Sen’s personal adviser Eang Sophalleth, is the fourth-ranked candidate. Sophalleth refused to answer questions about his candidacy when contacted by a CamboJA reporter, but said he would give his comment after the election.
In the 2018 National Assembly Election, there were CPP 11 candidates that were related to other candidates on the ballot. Hun Sen, his brother-in-law Nim Chantara, his second oldest son Hun Many, Many’s father-in-law Yim Chhayly, and Many’s brother-in-law Yim Chhayleat were all candidates. Heng Samrin and his son-in-law Vong Sauth also both ran. Sar Kheng and his son Sar Sokha were both candidates.
The son and brother of former Cambodian National Assembly member Sok An, Sok Sokan and Sok Pheng, both were eligible candidates in Takeo province in 2018, but are listed as reserve candidates this year. When asked why there was this change, Eysan said “It comes from the decision of the party.”
