Official ceremony held to award the rank of General to Hun Manet

 

Soth Koemsoeun

General Hun Manet, who is serving as the Commander of the Cambodian Army and Deputy Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF), has been promoted to a full General.

The official ceremony of awarding the rank of "General" to Gen Hun Manet was presided over by Tea Banh, Minister of National Defence of Cambodia at the Ministry of National Defence hall yesterday.

Banh said that the Ministry of National Defence organised a ceremony to equip the ranks of Generals to the officers of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces.

“It is a long-term preparation for future officers and women in the defence sector in line with the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces' reform plan, political programme and rectangular strategy of the sixth legislature of the National Assembly,” he said.

General Hun Manet, also a future prime ministerial candidate of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), said yesterday that in the past, he used to preside over the ranks of thousands of officers but today he was conferred the title by Minister of Defence Tea Banh for himself.

"I would like to express my gratitude to His Majesty King Norodom Sihamoni, King of Cambodia, for his willingness to promote me to the rank of ‘General’, he said.

He also thanked Prime Minister Hun Sen, Tea Banh, Minister of National Defence, and General Vong Pisen, Commander-in-Chief of the RCAF, for their trust and support in fulfilling his duties to serve the nation and the people.

Chhay Sophal, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Information and author of Gen Hun Manet’s book, said yesterday that in 1980–1990, Gen Manet attended and completed his primary and lower secondary education at Komarei Primary and Secondary School (now known as Chaktomuk Primary and Secondary School).

In 1990-1993, he attended and completed his high school at Phnom Daun Penh High School (now known as Preah Sisowath High School). Gen Manet excelled in mathematics, he said.

In 1995-1999, he enrolled in the United States Military Academy, West Point and, prestigiously graduated, on May 29 1999, as the first Cambodian graduate from the American military academy, he said.

In response to the author’s question on whether his West Point knowledge is being implemented in Cambodia, Gen Manet said, “Some military theories and fundamental knowledge of management and leadership are being used, but real fieldwork is more important because it teaches us what is being implemented effectively.”

It should be noted that he had been serving in the RCAF when he left for West Point in 1995.

Coincidentally, in 1999, his graduation year from West Point, was also a remarkable year for Cambodia after gaining complete peace when the last Khmer Rouge rebels in Anlong Veng surrendered to the Royal Government of Cambodia at the end of 1998, he said.

In 2002, he received a Master’s Degree of Arts in Economics from the University of New York, in the USA. In 2008, he received a PhD in Economics from the University of Bristol, UK, Sophal added.

However, the 45-year-old does not hold any political office, he is a member of the CPP Standing Committee, the party’s decision-making body and is the head of its youth wing.

In late 2021, Gen Manet was named by the CPP Central Committee to be the party’s future candidate for prime minister after Mr Hun Sen, essentially making him the prime minister-in-waiting.

Under Cambodian law, Gen Manet will have to resign from his military positions and win a parliamentary seat, if he is to accept the topmost government position.