Cambodia National Rescue Party Research Articles

A Regal Authoritarian Turn in Cambodia

ABSTRACT Cambodia’s transition from competitive to hegemonic authoritarianism, begun with a crackdown in 2017 which saw the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party dissolved, and institutionalised in non-competitive parliamentary elections in 2018 in which long-incumbent Cambodian People’s Party won all seats, has been teeming with references to the monarchy. Whilst Prime Minister Hun Sen has long built a complex set of regal legitimations elevating him to or above kingship, these legitimations have both intensified and changed qualitatively with the transition to hegemonic authoritarianism. In the past, Hun Sen and his regime’s regal references served to re-work in his favour the power boundaries between him and the monarchy; now, such references are mobilised against the non-royalist political opposition – at the same time as there is a sitting king on the throne. This article investigates the meanings and messages attached to these interventions on kingship, and how their usefulness to the new authoritarian order sheds light on the path the regime is taking. It is argued that Hun Sen uses royal imagery to cohere an otherwise incoherent vision of himself as a popular revolutionary as well as king-like leader whose power needs no check, to project power and create new political possibilities.

Cambodia and the Asian Values Debate

In the run-up to the 2018 general elections, the Cambodian government severely restricted political and human rights, including dissolving the primary opposition party—the Cambodia National Rescue Party. Supporters of the government have articulated defenses of these restrictions, including a line of argument, which echoes the long-standing Asian values debate. This article will examine the purge of political and human rights in Cambodia in 2016-17, and will also assess the justifications for these restrictions.

The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia. Edited by Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer

The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia. Edited by Katherine Brickell and Simon Springer. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge, 2016. Hardcover: 496pp. No other book better depicts the country's here and now than The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia. By avoiding the usual--and often simplistic--Western-centric narratives of the country's development challenges, this volume presents a first-rate account of current Cambodian society. Although both editors come from a geography background, their book provides a unique and well-rounded insight into the country's current situation, primarily because of their engagement with international and local academics, development professionals and activists. As is made clear in the introduction, the traumatic Khmer Rouge era provides only a partial explanation of the forces that have shaped contemporary Cambodia. The country has been haunted by its submissive position as a recipient of development aid, problematic relations with its nearest neighbours Vietnam and Thailand, and its dependence on China since the coup of 1997. The 2013 elections raised hopes that Prime Minister Hun Sen's ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP)'s by would be overturned. But after the CPP's narrow-margin victory ensured that the old elites continued to hold power, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) refused to attend parliament, resulting in months of political instability. The subsequent fragile peace between the ruling and opposition parties has been characterized by too many painful compromises. The Handbook of Contemporary Cambodia helps readers understand the country's complex facets by dividing them into five sections: political and economic tensions; rural developments; urban conflicts; social processes; and cultural currents. These five themes reflect entangled social realities that can be both sources of optimism and pessimism regarding the country's future. Catherine Morris' chapter on Justice, Law and Human Rights, for example, provides a legal backdrop to the current political situation. When the traditional system of dispute resolution was disrupted during the violence of the 1970s and 1980s, alternatives provided under pressure from foreign donors, such as law reforms and legal training for lawyers and judges, proved much less effective. Given the environment of heightened neopatrimonialism, attempts to establish the rule of law were undermined by the CPP and powerful elites who utilized the law for their own benefit. While many Cambodians and foreign observers remain sceptical about the opposition CNRP's ability to offer solutions to the country's many socioeconomic challenges, civil society receives high praise from international organizations and donors. Acknowledging the increasing number of attacks on activists, Louise Coventry's chapter offers a less romanticized view of Cambodia's civic engagement. Coventry shows how wider civil society has been overshadowed by an ever-growing number of NGOs backed by powerful donors that often cast aside more embedded, more traditional and likely more effective community-based organizations (CBOs). In making a connection between evolutions, concepts and spaces that are usually analyzed separately, this edited book also shows Cambodia as a country of blurring boundaries. This is, for example, apparent in the merging of boundaries between the village and city. …

Good Gifts, Bad Gifts, and Rights: Cambodian Popular Perceptions and the 2013 Elections

In the Cambodian national elections in 2013, the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) experienced a strong surge in support, finishing a close second to the long-incumbent Cambodian People’s Party (CPP). Whilst the CNRP campaigned on an anti-money politics, rights-based agenda, the CPP has relied on gift-giving practices to maintain links with voters. This article explores changing popular conceptions of provision to assess to what extent a democratic, rights-based conscience in Cambodia has emerged under the current neo-patrimonial regime. Building on qualitative interviews with 192 voters in post-election Cambodia, it finds that gift-giving practices play a different role than current academic theorizations of popular politics, and Cambodian popular politics in particular, would lead us to expect. Ordinary Cambodians are found to make a distinction between contingent and non-contingent exchanges in electoral mobilization, rejecting the former and embracing the latter. CPP gift giving in its current guise is consequently devoid of popular legitimacy across the political camps. At the same time, the idea of meritorious gift giving lives on as an ideal, especially among CNRP supporters. (Less)

Cambodia at a Crossroads. The Narratives of Cambodia National Rescue Party Supporters after the 2013 Elections

Across Southeast Asia, election promises commonly centre on preferential access to state resources, rather than on policy platforms. In Cambodia, gift-giving practices have been a key strategy for the dominant Cambodian People’s Party to seek electoral support. The surge in support for opposition CNRP in the 2013 elections, campaigning on an anti-money politics agenda, raises questions about popular perceptions of political gift-giving. Building on interviews with pro-CNRP demonstrators in post-election Cambodia, this paper asks how the 2013 electoral outcome relates to transforming popular values by exploring CNRP activists’ narratives about who they are, the main problems facing today’s Cambodia, gift-giving practices and rights. It employs these findings to reassess Cambodian popular electoral culture, and reframe running debates about the relations between states and populations seeking to access their resources in the region.

Shaping Political Change

Cambodia’s national election on 28 July 2013 marked the role of social media in facilitating opposition electoral gain. Prime Minister Hun Sen’s Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) that has governed the country for more than 30 years and enjoyed a landslide victory in the last election saw it loosening its grip on power. The Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), an opposition coalition led by Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha won 55 out of 123 seats in the national assembly, which was a huge gain from the 29 seats they held before the election. The ruling CPP under Prime Minister Hun Sen lost 22 seats, down from 90 to 68 seats, but still retained a majority. This is the first time since 1993 for the CPP to lose that many seats given its tight control over all state apparatus like the military, police, judicial system and the media. CPP could potentially become a minor party if the trend continues. CNRP, which had restricted access to the mainstream media, turned to the social media to drive its campaign. If social media continues to grow at the current speed without government interference, Cambodian politics will soon undergo fundamental political change.