• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.121-144
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• 2018

The year 2016 in Cambodia witnessed the collapse of Cambodian democracy. Promising results in terms of fairness the communal elections achieved were eclipsed by the dissolution of the Cambodia National Rescue Party. With press and civil society also being silenced, the ruling Cambodian People's Party expects no more challenge to its authoritarian rule. The economy continued it growth in 2017. However, serious problems embedded in its structure threaten the likelihood of sustainable development. Cambodia with solid China backing began to amp up its voice on the international stage, heading to a head-on collision with big donators including the United States.

• The Southeast Asian review
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.197-221
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• 2018

The Cambodian People's Party swept all 125 assembly seats with 76.78% of the vote in 2018 general elections. The Cambodian National Rescue Party, having been dissolved by court, was excluded from the election and attempted to nullify the legitimacy of the election by demanding its supporters to boycott the election. The Cambodian People's Party launched a campaign encouraging to vote in a desperate need to thwart the boycott movement. The election then became an unprecedented kind of competition the winner of which is decided not by the percentage of the vote but by turnout. The Cambodian People's Party was the winner with the high turnout of 82.89%, securing the means to defend the legitimacy of the election. The potential supporters of the Cambodian National Rescue Party spread out with about a million voters switching to support the Cambodian People's Party. Over a half million invalid votes that unequivocally voiced opposition to the Cambodian People's Party were not sufficient to deny the legitimacy of the election. Having experienced the fierce competition in the 2013 general elections that threatened to end its rule, the Cambodian People's Party decided to secure its power in the upcoming election and executed a tactic designed to remove the rival party through legal means. Competition being removed, the Cambodian political system decayed back to hegemonic electoral authoritarianism from competitive electoral authoritarianism to which it had mad gradual progress through the general elections in the past.