Cambodia prime minister's son Hun Manet tight lipped about leadership aspirations

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Hun Manet, the eldest son of Cambodia's prime minister Hun Sen, has declined to say if he wants to succeed his father.

"Cambodia is a multiparty democracy. The constitutions indicate that we have an election every five years," he told The World in a rare interview.

"So the choice, the decisions of who and when to be leader is up to the people of Cambodia."

When asked about becoming prime minister, he said: "Not no, not yes".

Hun Sen ruled Cambodia for 30 years through internal conflict and upheaval, to relative peace and prosperity today.

Hun Manet is one of the people tipped to be his likely successor. But he denies any preparation for the top job.

"Actually our father has stated many times that he doesn't want any of his children to follow in politics," he said.

Despite that, Hun Manet has been involved in the politics. He is currently the Lieutenant General of Cambodia's Armed Forces.

He said his involvement in politics has been "purely on a humanitarian basis"

From genocide to peace and stability

"The concern is how much I could contribute to society. How much limited time I have on this earth that I could contribute to fulfilling the needs of many people."

Hun Manet said Cambodia had made progress as a nation providing peace, prosperity, freedom of expression for its people.

"The country has moved from the day where people were being killed during the genocide, up to the total peace and stability of the policies," he said.

"The whole country is under one unified government for the first time in about 500 years."

Hun Manet said the government had moved to stem corruption in the country.

"The government especially the prime minister has taken many actions to counter and to eradicate and reduce the level of corruption,".

"The establishment of anti-corruption unit. The reform in many public sectors services, the reform in education services and the arrest and conviction of many high-level officials."

ABC

source: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-10-17/hun-manet-tight-lipped-about-becoming-prime-minister/6862480