Hun Many: Hun Sen’ son and his rise in Politics

PHNOM PENH (The Cambodia Herald) -- Two decades ago, a 9-year-old child Hun Many was sent by his father, Prime Minister of Cambodia, to study in France with his brother Hun Manith. Now, he becomes the youngest member of the 123-seat National Assembly, which is currently boycotted by the opposition party.

He is a young politician, who is in the focus of local and international media because he is a son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, one of the longest-serving Asian leaders.

How can Hun Many become a rising-star in Cambodian politics?

Hun Many studied in France until 1998 before moving to the United States to complete his high school education and to study bachelor degree in political science until 2005. 

After graduating from a university in the United States, Mr. Hun Many studied the Master’s Degree in International Relations in Melbourne, Australia. From 2009 to 2010 Mr. Hun Many, who is an assistant to the Prime Minister, pursued the Master’s Degree in the National Defense University in the United States in the field of Strategic Security Study focusing on counter-terrorism. Now, Mr Hun Many is a member of the National Assembly for Kampong Speu Province and the youngest lawmaker from the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), whose father is the Prime Minister.

“I think that Hun Many as the son of the Prime Minister was always mentioned by the media. They used to ask me (in the National Assembly) how I felt when I, as the son of the Prime Minister, sit in the National Assembly with my father. I said that I was a member of the CPP who was supported by the people to be a lawmaker. I am in the National Assembly as a lawmaker, but not a son of Prime Minister,” said Hun Many.

“ To make it simple, I am a lawmaker from the CPP named Hun Many and my youngest age is just a coincident,” he added.

Although Mr. Hun Many is the fourth son of the Prime Minister, he only talked about his relationship with the party in politics. Everything is clear and clean for this young politician. 

His education and experiences from his father are the capital for his work. But as a politician in the new generation, Mr. Hun Many knows exactly that the interest of the people and the country should be served as the first priority before promoting the popularity of the party.

My father doesn’t want his children to be involved in politics but do the circumstances so require?

If you think that the political career of Mr. Hun Many was already planned by his father, Mr. Hun Many will remind you that before sending him to study in France his father said that he didn’t want any of his sons to get involved in politics. 

But perhaps the circumstances during that time made Hun Sen hesitate to let his children succeed his political career because Mr. Hun Sen was experiencing a tough negotiation with the tripartite movement along the Cambodian-Thai border on the complicated process towards peace and reconciliation in the late 1980s and early 1990s and he didn’t want his children to challenge such hard circumstance like him.

Mr. Hun Many said “[He told me that] it was a difficult job. It required high responsibility and some people didn’t like us. After that he hadn’t said anything [about the politics] but until the day I became his assistant, he told me that he didn’t have time to teach me but allowed me to stay in his office and observed his work. He always gave me advice when I made a mistake.”

The party provides political guidance

Since 2007, Mr. Hun Many has been known to the public and has mostly followed Prime Minister Hun Sen to the meetings inside and outside of the country. He has worked quietly and seriously as an assistant to the Prime Minister, which he believes could strengthen and sharpen his skills.

His duty and responsibility were expanded in 2011. Mr. Hun Many was selected to lead the Union of Youth Federation of Cambodia (UYFC) of the CPP. This work made Hun Many happy. 

The direct contact with youth and local people to create pleasure environment is his hobby. Although political experts consider this work a political activity, Mr. Hun Many believes that it’s purely a social activity to encourage youth to help society. Since then, the fourth son of the Prime Minister is often seen wearing the light blue dress, the uniform of the UYFC. In these uniforms, Mr. Hun Many and the children of other top leaders of the CPP are leading the youth of the CPP.

Based on strong educational background and experiences of working with the Prime Minister for more than 5 years coupled with the popularity among youth, the leaders of the CPP allowed Mr. Hun Many to be a lawmaker candidate for Kampong Speu Province for the fifth mandate. 

Mr. Hun Many explained: “Even until 2011, I hadn’t thought about joining politics yet. However, based on the foundation of my work, some elderly people from the CPP advised me to start this political career. Therefore, thanks to my confidence and the opportunity provided by the party, I started the work and subsequently become the youngest member of the National Assembly for the fifth mandate of legislation.”

In the National Assembly I shouldn’t consider age too seriously

Being the youngest politicians doesn’t mean that lawmaker Hun Many couldn’t understand anything about political affairs or know everything about parliamentary tasks at this early stage. Yet, this 31-year-old lawmaker expressed his commitment to training himself in order to be able to carry out the tasks and duties as a lawmaker for the socio-economic interests of the country.

 For Hun Many, age isn’t an obstacle for him to discuss with other elderly lawmakers among which there are some leaders of the CPP who supported him to be a lawmaker candidate. “If we consider age too seriously, we will lose our responsibility and position. The only thing that worries me is the speed of getting the knowledge and skills to write laws. I’m not afraid to say that when we make a fresh start, we cannot understand everything right away. We need to learn but the [most] important thing for me is to understand the people and serve the people,” said Hun Many.

At this point, Mr. Hun Many said that his work as an assistant to the Prime Minister has at least become the capital and experiences for his work as a member of the National Assembly today. The important experience of being an assistant to the Prime Minister was to understand what he wanted. 

Mr. Hun Many said that being the assistant to understand and fulfill the need of the Prime Minister is not different from being a lawmaker to understand and fulfill the need of the people. 

Mr. Hun Many explained: “as an assistant to the Prime Minister, a part of my job was to carry a bag and documents for him. Carrying the bag and documents wasn’t as easy as we think. Basically, I needed to understand his need. Before each bilateral talk and ASEAN meeting, I needed to learn and understand what kind of documents I would give him. This required mutual understanding between me and him to produce the effectiveness of work.

I cannot be compared to my father.

“[I remember] one point he taught me. He said a leader, especially in a talk for the national interest, had to know the opportunity, take the opportunity, use the opportunity and in the level four to create the opportunity. These are what we need to learn,” said Mr. Hun Many, trying to remember his father’s advice. As an assistant to the Prime Minister, Mr. Hun Many has more chances than the other children to learn from his father, in particular during the tensions that Cambodia is facing today such as border disputes with Thailand and post-election political deadlock. The way his father made decision on national issues and his responsibility as the leader of a country impressed Mr. Hun Many so much. 

Mr. Hun Many explained that he didn’t commend his father because he is a son of the Prime Minister but he commended his father for his leadership. The settlement of the border disputes with Thailand is a new experience that this young politician saw with his own eyes to reflect the ability of Prime Minister Hun Sen. Mr. Hun Many explained: “I always ask myself what makes him strong to lead Cambodia until today. I learned a lesson from him. In 2008, there was a tension over Preah Vihear Temple when all top leaders were gathering at the house of Samdech Prime Minister. He could point out four scenarios: first, we would maintain the current situation and avoid clashes to allow people to live their normal lives; second, there would be military clashes at the most tension areas; third, there would be clashes along the border; and fourth, there would be a war.

 The basic point I could learn from this issue was that we needed to assess the situation from different corners. In a tension situation, he at once thought about the strategy to defend the country, save the economic interest related to the livelihood of the people along the border and find legal and diplomatic measures to deal with the issue. I cannot be compared to him. For him, simply if he wasn’t tough or wise, he’d die.”

Solving political disputes relies on will rather than individual person.

Nine months after the general election in the fifth mandate, political disputes remains unsettled. 55 lawmakers from the CNRP still boycott the National Assembly. The CNRP under the leadership of Mr. Sam Rainsy and Kem Sokha demands for Prime Minister Hun Sen to step down from the power. If young generation was to settle the political disputes, how would they deal with the problem?

 Would it be faster for them to settle the disputes? Mr. Hun Many explained that it didn’t depend on how old or young the politicians are but it depended on their political will to settle the problem or not. The young politician from the CPP blamed the CNRP for not having position to settle the dispute.

Spare time after work

With duties of a lawmaker, the President of the Union of Youth Federation of Cambodia, a husband, and a father, does Mr. Hun Many have spare time for himself? 

For him, the time with his family is also a happy time. Even happier is the time for weekly family gathering. As the fourth son of Prime Minister Hun Sen, Mr. Hun Many explained that every week all his brothers and sisters and he spend time together at his parents’ house. 

That is the time when the house of the Prime Minister is crowded by around 30 people of his children, children-in-law, and grandchildren. Apart from the time for family and politics, Mr. Hun Many is also a sport player. He admitted that he wasn’t very good at any specific sports but he could play some sports such as Tennis, swimming, running, football, volleyball, and table tennis.

Sport is only the activity to reduce stress caused by his political work. 

This story is produced in cooperation with www.thmeythmety.com

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