Hun Sen

He also denied that his action was a coup, arguing that if he had wanted to make a coup, he would have abolished the monarchy. [ [http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/9707/10/cambodia/ Hun Sen claims no coup in Cambodia. CNN. July 10, 1997] ]

The elections of July 2003 resulted in a larger majority in the National Assembly for the CPP, with FUNCINPEC losing seats to the CPP and the Sam Rainsy Party. However, CPP's majority was short of the two thirds constitutionally required for the CPP to form a government alone. This deadlock was overcome and a new CPP-FUNCINPEC coalition was formed in mid-2004.

Criticism

Some political opponents of Hun Sen accuse him of being a puppet of Hanoi, due to his position in the government created by Vietnam while Cambodia was under Vietnamese military occupation and the fact that he was a prominent figure in the People's Revolutionary Party of Kampuchea (now known as the Cambodian People's Party), which governed Cambodia as a one-party state under Vietnamese military occupation from 1979 until the introduction of democracy in 1993. Hun Sen and his supporters reject such charges, claiming that he represents only the Cambodian people. More recent political opponents outside the country accuse him of being a corrupt dictator who controls the country by force.

Hun Sen was accused of ordering his personal body guards to throw hand grenades into a crowd of protesters led by Sam Rainsy in 1997, which led to the deaths of dozens and the injuring of hundreds of others.

Hun Sen has also been instrumental in the sales of land to foreign investors in 2007-08, massive deforestation, signing 1979, 1982, 1985 and 2005 treaties ceding territories to Vietnam, massive influx of illegal Vietanmese settlers to boost his support and eviction of thousands of residents from their homes. [ [http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/apr/26/cambodia Adrian Levy and Cathy Scott-Clark report on Cambodia, a country for sale | World news | The Guardian ] ]

Family

Hun Sen is married to Bun Rany.

In October 2007, Hun Sen made a surprise announcement at a graduation ceremony in front of an audience of around 3,000 that his adopted daughter is lesbian. He has taken legal steps to disown his daughter and to prevent her from receiving any inheritance. Nonetheless, he asked the audience to accept homosexuals. [ [http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/10/30/pm.daughter.ap/ PM disowns daughter for being gay] - CNN, 2007-10-30] [ [http://www.bangkokpost.com/breaking_news/breakingnews.php?id=123136 Hun Sen disowns his lesbian daughter] - Bangkok Post, 2007-10-31]

Although Hun Sen's birthday is officially celebrated on April 4, he has revealed that his actual date of birth was August 5, 1952 (The Cambodia Daily, April 5, 2007). He apparently altered his date of birth to appear older when joining the Khmer Rouge as a youth.

He joined the International Parliament for Safety and Peace, as Senator for Life in October 2007. [See http://www.international-parliament.net/seite27.htm.]

A large base of his power comes from three million illegal Vietnamese settlers and advisors with full voting rights, while millions of Khmer people with opposition tendency were systematically deleted off voting registers in the July 2008 election.Fact|date=October 2008

Footnotes

Further reading

*Harish C. Mehta and Julie B. Mehta. 1999. "Hun Sen: Strongman of Cambodia". Singapore: Graham Brash Pte Ltd. ISBN 981-218-074-5
*Elizabeth Becker. 1986, 1998. "When the War Was Over: Cambodia and the Khmer Rouge". New York: Public Affairs. ISBN 1-891620-00-2
* [http://www.cnv.org.kh/personInfo/biography_of_hun_sen.htm Biography of Hun Sen] [http://www.cnv.org.kh/ Cambodia New Vision ~ newsletter of cabinet of Cambodia's Prime Ministerial office]