PHNOM PENH: Siem Reap provincial Governor, Tea Seiha, has claimed that the "Tea" family has never had the ambition to run for the top job of Prime Minister, as some politicians and foreign media have suggested.

Addressing the 5th Intervention Brigade in Banteay Ampil District of Oddar Meanchey Province and the troops of the 4th Military Front of the Siem Reap Military Operation Area on Tuesday, 11 April 2023, Governor Tea Seiha said that there is no reason for his father, Minister of Defense and DPM Tea Banh, to oppose the Cambodian People’s Party’s (CPP's) decision to nominate Hun Manet as the party's future prime ministerial candidate.

He affirmed that he not only had no intention of becoming the Prime Minister, but also wholeheartedly supported Prime Minister Hun Sen’s candidacy for the seventh term and as well as he decision to nominate Hun Manet as the CPP’s future prime ministerial candidate.

Governor Tea Seiha's remarks come after some politicians aligned with opposition leader, Sam Rainsy, and some foreign-funded media outlets reported that Deputy Prime Minister Tea Banh wanted one of his sons, particularly the provincial governor of Siem Reap, to run for future Prime Ministerial candidate against Hun Manet.

The President of the Institute of International Relations of the Royal Academy of Cambodia, Dr. Kin Phea, believes that the fabrication of this narrative surrounding the Tea family’s aspiration to run for Prime Minister was an unsuccessful attempt to destabilize and disintegrate the CPP.

"What is being said is clearly provocative, it is [clearly an attempt to plant seeds of distrust]," he said. "On the contrary, it should be clear that the CPP has properly divided its roles and responsibilities within the party, the government and at the sub-national and local levels."

On 10 March 2023, the Minister of National Defense, DPM Tea Banh, and his son, Governor Tea Seiha, published a post on Facebook dismissing allegations that the Tea family was aspiring to run for the Prime Minister’s office to divide the nation.

The Minister of National Defense called on his compatriots to unite under the umbrella of the Cambodian Constitution and the ‘cool shade’ of the King to unite around the Royal Government led by Prime Minister Hun Sen, in order to maintain peace, protect all societal achievements and allow the Cambodian nation to grow and develop even more.