59 Facts About Hun Sen

Samdech Hun Sen is a Cambodian politician, and former army general who currently serves as the president of the Senate.

Hun Sen previously served as the prime minister of Cambodia from 1985 to 1993 and from 1998 to 2023.

Hun Sen is the longest-serving head of government in Cambodia's history.

Hun Sen is the president of the Cambodian People's Party, which has governed Cambodia since 1979, and has served as a member of the Senate since 2024.

Hun Sen rose to the premiership in January 1985 when the one-party National Assembly appointed him to succeed Chan Sy, who had died in office in December 1984.

Hun Sen held the position until the 1993 UN-backed elections which resulted in a hung parliament, with opposition party FUNCINPEC winning the majority of votes.

Between 1998 and 2023, Hun Sen led the CPP to consecutive and often contentious election victories, overseeing rapid economic growth and development, but corruption, deforestation and human rights violations.

Hun Sen led the country during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and Cambodia's third chairmanship of ASEAN; and, after the 2023 election formally announced his resignation as prime minister in favour of his son, Hun Manet.

Hun Sen remains as party leader and in 2024, was appointed president of the Senate, ensuring his continued influence over the country's politics.

Hun Sen has been described as a "wily operator who destroys his political opponents" by The Sydney Morning Herald and as a dictator who has assumed highly centralized power in Cambodia and considerable personal wealth using violence and corruption, including a personal guard said to rival the country's regular army.

Hun Sen was born on 4 April 1951, in Peam Kaoh Sna, Kampong Cham as Hun Bunal, the third of six children.

Hun Sen Neang inherited some of his family assets, including several hectares of land, and led a relatively comfortable life until a kidnapping incident forced their family to sell off much of their assets.

Hun Sen Nal left his family at the age of 13 to attend a monastic school in Phnom Penh.

Hun Sen graduated with a master in state administrative management from the National Academy of Public Administration of Vietnam.

When Lon Nol removed Norodom Sihanouk from power in 1970, Hun Sen gave up his education to join the Khmer Rouge following Sihanouk's call to join the insurgency.

Hun Sen changed his name to Hun Sen two years later, saying that the name Hun Samrach had been inauspicious and that he had been wounded several times during the period he had that name.

Hun Sen rapidly ascended ranks as a soldier, and fought during the fall of Phnom Penh, becoming injured and being hospitalized for some time and sustaining a permanent eye injury.

In Democratic Kampuchea, Hun Sen served as a Battalion Commander in the Eastern Region, with authority over around 2000 men.

Hun Sen was given the secret name Mai Phuc by Vietnamese leaders.

Hun Sen first rose to the premiership in January 1985 when the one-party National Assembly encouraged by politburo cadre Say Phouthang appointed him to succeed Chan Sy, who had died in office in December 1984.

Hun Sen oversaw continuing conflict against several ongoing insurgencies during this period.

Hun Sen held the position of prime minister during the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia until the 1993 UN-sponsored elections, which resulted opposition party FUNCINPEC winning the majority of votes with a hung parliament.

UNTAC and FUNCINPEC conceded a unique power sharing agreement with Hun Sen serving as Second Prime Minister alongside First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh.

Hun Sen has opposed extensive investigations and prosecutions related to crimes committed by former Khmer Rouge leaders by the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal.

On 6 May 2013, Hun Sen declared his intention to rule Cambodia until the age of 74.

On 10 June 2014, Hun Sen made a public appearance and claimed he has no health problems.

On 2 February 2017, Hun Sen barred the opposition from questioning some of his government ministers.

Furthermore, Hun Sen vowed a constitutional amendment which later saw the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party dissolved.

On 30 June 2018, weeks before the parliamentary elections, Hun Sen appointed his second eldest son, Hun Manet, into higher military positions.

Hun Sen affirmed at the time that his son could become prime minister if elected rather than through direct handover, though he intends to rule until at least 2028.

Hun Sen blocked the return of exiled Cambodia National Rescue Party leaders to Cambodia, including Sam Rainsy and Mu Sochua, in November 2019.

Hun Sen ordered the military to "attack" them on sight should they return, threatened airlines with legal actions for allowing them to board, deployed thousands of troops to the Thai and Vietnamese borders, and requested other ASEAN leaders arrest them and deport them to Cambodia.

Hun Sen criticized the move as "biased" and "unfair", including at the United Nations General Assembly in 2020.

Hun Sen visited China during the outbreak and offered to visit Wuhan specifically during its lockdown.

Hun Sen was present to welcome passengers of the MS Westerdam cruise ship to dock in Sihanoukville, after it was turned away from other countries.

On 10 July 2023, Hun Sen warned Ukraine of using cluster munitions, saying "It would be the greatest danger for Ukrainians for many years or up to a hundred years if cluster bombs are used in Russian-occupied areas in the territory of Ukraine," Sen further cited his country's "painful experience" from the Vietnam War that has killed or maimed tens of thousands of Cambodians.

Hun Sen implemented land reform, the "leopard skin land reform", in Cambodia.

Hun Sen was implicated in corruption related to Cambodia's oil wealth and mineral resources in the Global Witness 2009 report on Cambodia.

Hun Sen frequently calls for violence against his political opponents during seemingly irrelevant public events, often characterizing this as necessary to maintain peace and stability in Cambodia.

Hun Sen has frequently criticized Western powers such as the European Union and United States in response to their sanctions on Cambodia over human rights issues.

Hun Sen strengthened a close diplomatic and economic relationship with China, which has undertaken large-scale infrastructure projects and investments in Cambodia under the Belt and Road Initiative.

Hun Sen oversaw a number of diplomatic disputes with neighboring Thailand.

Hun Sen called for a boycott of Thai goods and television shows and criticized the actress shortly before the riots.

In November 2016, Hun Sen publicly endorsed US Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump who went on to be elected president.

The Cambodian People's Party claimed an expected landslide victory in the 2024 Senate election, paving the way for Hun Sen to become its president when the new Senate convenes.

Hun Sen is less popular in urban centers like Phnom Penh.

Hun Sen's leadership has received criticism from various organizations, media and foreign governments for corruption, cronyism, environmental degradation, human rights violations and violence.

Some political opponents of Hun Sen have criticized him for alleged ties to Vietnam.

Hun Sen declared in February 2016 they had become an "electronic government" and regularly posted and livestreams of speeches, announcements, and selfies to million of followers.

On 29 June 2023, Hun Sen deleted his Facebook account, which had approximately 14 million followers, hours after Meta's oversight board ruled that he should face a six-month ban from the platform over a video post in which he threatened to have opponents beaten.

Hun Sen's older brother, Hun Neng, was a governor of Kampong Cham and a member of parliament.

Hun Sen is fluent in Vietnamese, in addition to his native Khmer.

Hun Sen speaks some English after beginning to learn the language in the 1990s, but usually converses in Khmer through interpreters when giving formal interviews to the English-speaking media.

Hun Sen is blind in one eye because of an injury he sustained during the 1975 fall of Phnom Penh while fighting for the Khmer Rouge.

Hun Sen is fitted with a Japanese made artificial eye, which is regularly replaced by Japanese doctors.

Hun Sen has made major donations for the renovation of numerous pagodas, including Wat Vihear Suor.

Until June 2022, Hun Sen has used 4 April 1951 as his legal birthdate even if he was actually born on 5 August 1952.

Hun Sen had it changed due to a Cambodian superstition relating to having wrong legal birthdates causing conflict with the Chinese zodiac.

Hun Sen had it changed for believing the death of his brother in May 2022 due to a cardiac arrest was related to this superstition since he had an incorrect birth date.