Attract Hoon (Hun Manet)

Attract Hoon (Hun Manet)

Biography

2023: Appointment as Prime Minister of Cambodia

On August 22, 2023, the newly elected Parliament of Cambodia approved General Hun Manet as Prime Minister of the country. In this post, he will succeed his father Hun Sen, who has been in power for almost four decades.

Hun Manet, 45, won the support of most members of the country's national assembly. Commenting on his assumption of the Prime Minister, Manet said that "it is necessary to continue to lead the country peacefully and safely, as well as support development and carry out reforms in all sectors."

Manet was born on October 20, 1977 in Kampongtyam Province during the Khmer Rouge rule in Cambodia. He received his general education in Phnom Penh, and in 1995 joined the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces. That same year, he entered the United States Military Academy at West Point. In 2008, Manet was appointed commander of the Cambodian National Special Forces for Combating Terrorism with the rank of colonel. In 2013, he received the rank of lieutenant general, and since June 2018 he served as commander in chief of the Royal Army of Cambodia. Manet has a master's degree from New York University and a doctorate from Bristol University in economics.

Former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, 71, announced his resignation in July 2023. Reportedly, he intends to conduct political activities for at least ten years. In particular, Hun Sen will remain the head of the People's Party, and will also take the post of chairman of the Senate and the king's high council. Analysts say that despite handing over the board to his son, Hun Sen will retain huge influence. At the same time, many other officials of the ruling party will also step aside to give way to their children and other proxies in state institutions.^[1]

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