Index stresses risk of violence

The ruling Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP) popularity will continue to wane, and change is on the horizon for Cambodia, although that change could be violent, according to the Bertelsmann Transformation Index (BTI) 2016 report. The BTI has been published every two years since 2006, monitoring countries’ progress towards democracy. At 3.7 out of 10 this year, Cambodia’s “democracy status” is the lowest it has been in the history of the BTI.

Ten years ago, the BTI classified Cambodia as a “moderate autocracy”, but since 2012, the Kingdom’s ranking has slipped to that of “hard-line autocracy”. Government spokesman Phay Siphan yesterday argued that the meaning of “democracy” varied between countries and that to compare them was meaningless.

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