What is your vision about political development in Cambodia? Are you optimistic that better change is on the way?
Well, I am certainly optimistic that the demographic trend of this country is pointing the way it is. Now whether the changes that are happening are in a way that the West would describe as democratic or not, I am a little less certain of. But I certainly think the future of Cambodia will be bright. I think that there is very good chance that whether Prime Minister Hun Sen remains in power in the medium or long term or not, there is going to be a need for his party to address the concerns of the people. I don’t expect Cambodia to become a democracy overnight, and I think it would be naive to expect that, but I do hope that the government in power, regardless of its political character, will create a system that is more just and fair to ordinary people.
Sebastian Strangio, an international freelance correspondent and former editor at the Phnom Penh Post, has recently published a book, titled “Hun Sen’s Cambodia.”
