CAMBODIA-Hun Sen To Step Down After 38 Years In Power

Wires reporting comments from Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen stating that he will step down as prime minister, to be replaced by his son Hun Manet. Hun sen is one of the longest-serving heads of gov't worldwide, having served as PM since 1998 and before that as head of a Vietnamese-installed communist regime and then a UN-backed multi-party system, meaning he has led the country for the past 38 years. Hun stated that his continuing as PM 'would cause instability' and that he plans to appoint his son as PM on 10 August.

• Hun Sen is not leaving frontline politics, though, instead announcing that he will run to become Senate president in the February 2024 elections, as well as continue to head the Royal Council and his governing Cambodian People's Party.
• The Cambodian People's Party won a landslide win in the 23 July legislative election that many observers have criticised as neither free nor fair.
• While Cambodia remains a frontier market with little presence in international financial markets. Politically, the country sits as one of China's closest allies in southeast Asia alongside Laos. While Hun's stepping down is a landmark moment, his continued presence in senior positions and his son's taking over the premiership means a change in the nation's international allegiance is unlikely any time soon.