កម្ពុជា « KAMBUJĀ »
— Officially: ព្រះរាជាណាចក្រកម្ពុជា « Bra’-Rājānācakra-Kambujā ».
— English: Cambodia.
— Seat of government: ភ្នំពេញ « B‛nã-Bēñ ».
— Status: Not democratic.
— Structure: Largely autocratic one-party state under the current prime minister. In theory, a constitutional monarchy in which the prime minister is chosen by the រដ្ឋសភា « Ratt‛a-Sab‛ā », elected in geographical constituencies modified by proportional representation; parliament (សភាតំណាងរាស្ត្រ « Sab‛ā-Tãnāŋa-Rāstra ») comprises the រដ្ឋសភា « Ratt‛a-Sab‛ā » and the ព្រឹទ្ធសភា « Bridd‛a-Sab‛ā », mostly chosen by local governments, with two appointees each of the king and the រដ្ឋសភា « Ratt‛a-Sab‛ā ».
— Governing party: គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា « Ganapaksa-Prajājan-Kambujā ».
— Head of government: ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen », prime minister.
— Chief opposition party: គណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ « Ganapaksa-Saŋgrō’-Jāti », led by សម រង្ស៊ី « Sam Raŋsī ».
— Assessment: The rule of ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen » (1979-) is blatantly despotic, and he has done much to eliminate political and civil opposition, with most elections tending towards the consolidation of his rule, a trend only recently slowed. ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen » was originally with the ខ្មែរក្រហម « K‛mer Kraham », the atrocious totalitarian force led by ប៉ុល ពត « Pʺul Bat » that controlled much of កម្ពុជា « Kambujā » from 1973 and all of it from 1975 until 1979, when it was forced out of most of the recognized territory by Việt Nam. By that point ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen » had defected and allied with Việt Nam; he became the effective head of the government installed by Việt Nam. In 1993, former absolute monarch នរោត្តម សីហនុ « Narōttam Sīhanu » (1953-70) was restored as constitutional monarch, and the UN oversaw elections, in which the royalist Front Uni National pour un Cambodge Indépendant, Neutre, Pacifique, et Coopératif, headed by សីហនុ « Sīhanu »’s son នរោត្ដម រណឬទ្ធិ « Narōttam Ranaŗdd‛e », won a near majority. ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen », though, forced FUNCINPEC into a power-sharing arrangement with two prime ministers, and eventually forced រណឬទ្ធិ « Ranaŗdd‛e » out completely in 1997, killing or executing many FUNCINPEC officials in the process. ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen »’s party officially won a plurality but not a majority in the 2003 election, with the opposition គណបក្ស សម រង្ស៊ី « Ganapaksa Sam Raŋsī » a distant second and FUNCINPEC a close third. Following this, FUNCINPEC first merged with the គណបក្ស សម រង្ស៊ី « Ganapaksa Sam Raŋsī » as the Alliance of Democrats, to contest ហ៊ុន សែន « Hun Sen »’s power, then joined government with the គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា « Ganapaksa-Prajājan-Kambujā », and finally split into factions. សីហនុ « Sīhanu » abdicated in 2004, replaced by his son នរោត្តម សីហមុនី « Narōttam Sīhamunī ». In the 2008 elections, the គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា « Ganapaksa-Prajājan-Kambujā » officially secured nearly two thirds of the seats in parliament, while at the same time needing a reduced, simple majority to rule alone, but the elections were once again not fair, and held in an atmosphere of artificial emergency over a border dispute. In the 2013 election, as expected, the គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា « Ganapaksa-Prajājan-Kambujā » claimed a majority of seats, but, in progress, only a small plurality in the official popular vote. Prior to the vote, the គណបក្ស សម រង្ស៊ី « Ganapaksa Sam Raŋsī » and the គណបក្សសិទ្ធិមនុស្ស « Ganapaksa-Sidd‛imanussa » merged as the គណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ « Ganapaksa-Saŋgrō’-Jāti », and became the only opposition party to gain seats in parliament.
— FH: 6-5, not free. Econ: 4.87 (102), hybrid.
— Updated: 2015 April 1.
O.T. FORD