STORY: Cambodian PM Hun Sen to retire, transfer power to Hun Manet in new gov't
DATELINE: July 27, 2023
LENGTH: 00:02:17
LOCATION: Phnom Penh
CATEGORY: POLITICS
 
SHOTLIST:
1. various of Cambodian PM Hun Sen announcing retirement, handing power to eldest son Hun Manet
2. various of Hun Manet, Prime Minister candidate for new term gov't 
3. various of people casting ballots in the Sunday election
 
STORYLINE:
 
Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen said on Wednesday that he would step down from Aug. 22 after serving the post for more than 38 years in the Southeast Asian nation, and would pass the reins of power to his eldest son Hun Manet.
 
SOUNDBITE (Khmer): SAMDECH TECHO HUN SEN, Prime Minister of Cambodia
"Hun Manet will become the prime minister in just more than three weeks. The king will convene the National Assembly for the first time on Aug. 21, 2023, and on the evening of Aug. 22, the new cabinet will be sworn in."
 
The upcoming power transition was to continue ensuring the country's peace and political stability, he said, adding that the new cabinet would consist of young and dynamic leaders.
 
Hun Sen, 70, said the political power would remain in his hands because he was still the president of the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP), but he would not interfere with the new government's leadership. He would also take the post of President of the Senate after the Senate Election on Feb. 25 next year.
 
Hun Manet, 45, is currently a member of the CPP's Standing Committee and a deputy commander-in-chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.
 
He graduated from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in 1999, received a Master's Degree of Arts in Economics from the University of New York in 2002, and earned a Doctorate Degree in Economics from the University of Bristol in Britain in 2008.
 
Hun Sen's announcement came after the CPP won a landslide victory in the seventh general election on Sunday, which was held to elect the members of parliament for the 125-seat National Assembly for the 2023-2028 new term.
 
The National Election Committee (NEC) released the preliminary results on Wednesday, showing that the CPP received almost 6.4 million votes, or 82.3 percent of the total valid votes of 7.77 million, and the Funcinpec Party of Prince Norodom Chakravuth gained 716,443 votes, or 9.22 percent.
 
Based on the results, the CPP won 120 parliamentary seats and Funcinpec gained the remaining five seats.
 
The CPP has ruled Cambodia since 1979, with Hun Sen being the prime minister since Jan. 14, 1985.
 
Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from Phnom Penh.
(XHTV)