Tokyo, Nov. 11 (Jiji Press)--Sam Rainsy, a Cambodian opposition leader currently living in exile in France, called on Japan to provide support for democracy in his country.
In a recent interview with Jiji Press in Tokyo, Rainsy criticized former Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, 74, and his family for establishing a "dictatorship" in the Southeast Asian nation.
Rainsy said that he asks "the Japanese government to help consolidate democracy in Cambodia, because Japan is a model of democracy in Asia."
After serving as prime minister for 38 years, Hun Sen stepped down and handed the position to his son, Hun Manet, in 2023. Since then, however, Hun Sen has filled influential positions and currently serves as president of Cambodia's Senate.
In recent years, the Cambodian government has taken an authoritarian approach to suppress antigovernment forces, resulting in the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party, the country's largest opposition party, in 2017. Rainsy once served as head of the party.
[Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]
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