Certain of election victory, Cambodia’s Hun Sen prepares to hand power to son

Hun Manet, eldest son of strongman who has ruled for four decades, faces balancing act when he inherits patronage system

When Cambodians go to the polls on Sunday, there is little doubt about who will be declared the winner. The only major opposition party has been banned from running, its members arrested and activists beaten in the streets. Independent media outlets have been closed down or their websites blocked.

With no viable opposition, Hun Sen, the strongman prime minister who has held power for almost four decades, is expected to again sweep to victory. His intense crackdown - which rights groups say is a deterioration even on the repression that preceded elections in 2018 - comes as he prepares to hand over to his eldest son, Hun Manet, 45.