What Cambodia had become is being shown in Singapore. When Lee Hsien Loong, who had been in power for 20 times, succeeds, Lawrence Wong gains from a consultative approach to policy.
Lee Hsien Loong is the brother of Lee Kuan Yew, the founder of modern Singapore. People of the Lee family for the first time since the city-state became separate do not hold the position of prime minister or stand next in line to get over.
Wong’s session in May 2024 followed the” Forward Singapore” consult training launched in June 2022. More than 200, 000 Singaporeans were involved in the process, which led to a 180- website report being published in October 2023. The report lists forward-thinking interests like assisting those who want to change jobs and offering support for the poor.
The contrast to Cambodia is almost more stark. In a approach without discussion, long-serving Prime Minister Hun Sen handed the place to his brother Hun Manet in August 2023. The Cambodian National Rescue Party and the Candlelight Party, which were in opposition to the Hun home government, were prohibited from running in regional elections in 2018 and 2023.
Wong has said that his government may have a , consult approach to policy- making , and that his team is “prepared to are- observe all our assumptions”. However, Hun Sen, then president of Cambodia’s Senate, brushed aside concerns about a planned Chinese- backed river in Cambodia by saying that he never made a wrong choice in 47 years of power.
Singapore, of course, is never a republic in the European feel. The political system has been dominated by the People’s Action Party ( PAP ) since 1959. Like Cambodia, the advertising is generally express- controlled and the state lacks an independent democratic payment.
But political opposition is tolerated in Singapore, and votes, the effects of which are recognized by the opposition, serve a purpose. Greater diversity of viewpoints and a more normative approach to management have both paid off.
Singapore’s “freedom report” as calculated by Freedom House stands at 48 out of 100 in 2024, way ahead of Cambodia on 23. In 2023, Singapore had a net national salary of US$ 70, 810 per head, which most Cambodians you just hope for. According to the World Bank, the city-state has one of the most business-friendly conditions in the world.
There was no compelling reason Cambodia could not have experienced a comparable financial miracle, but for the Khmer Rouge regime’s mini disasters in the 1970s and the lengthy period of corrupt and totalitarian rule under former Khmer Rouge corps Hun Sen in the years that followed.
Now, Cambodia has moved farther away from the Singapore type and , towards a North Korea- type system , by relying on family relations as the factor that determines access to power. Nearly a third of the 125 prospects for the ruling Thai People’s Party are related to one another, according to an analysis of the 125 prospects for the July 2023 vote.
A number of officials gave their content to their children as part of the company transition from Hun Sen to Hun Manet in August 2023.
Hun Manet’s younger sibling Hun Some has since been elected as a deputy prime minister. Hun Sen has said he will continue his position of prime minister, if needed, and , has even talked of one of his children one day taking over authority from Hun Manet.
Hun Manet has not demonstrated any signs of having an independent vision for Cambodia’s future. He effectively plays back-seat driver while his father plays back-seat. No one of the political prisoners who were imprisoned under Hun Sen has ever been released, and new arrests have been ongoing.
There has n’t been any change in foreign policy either. The Hun regime depends greatly on Cambodia’s financial and military ties with Communist China. As long as the Hun family is still in power, China wo n’t leave Cambodia. A compliant Cambodia that will host China’s naval base at Ream is a crucial component of China’s expansionist strategy.
In crucial Asian issues like the Myanmar military’s illegitimate regime, Singapore has been much more vocal than Cambodia. Hun Sen achieved nothing in Myanmar during Cambodia’s period as chair of , ASEAN , in 2022 and undermined any possibility of , ASEAN , being able to present a united front in the face of the large- scale and ongoing junta violence in the country.
In contrast,  , Thomas Andrews, the UN special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, has said that Singapore “immediately responded” to his 2023 report that found weapons for the junta were being sourced from Singapore.
There is no proof that the Singaporean government knew about the weapons transfers that were taking place. According to Andrews, after the publication of his report, exports of weapons materials from Singapore to Myanmar decreased by 83 %.
The Singaporean example illustrates that open and consultative forms of government allow for the expression and recognition of diverse viewpoints.
These truths are largely ignored in most developed nations. Few states are willing to abandon them completely and adopt a purely hereditary system.
Cambodia is one of those very few. The Hun Manet regime’s supporters will be the people of Cambodia as long as the international community maintains “business as usual” with them.
Cambodia National Rescue Party, a banned organization, was co-founded by Sam Rainsy.