PHNOM PENH: Outgoing Prime Minister Hun Sen gave his final speech as Cambodia’s premier before his son is officially sworn in this afternoon. He detailed his own journey in Cambodian politics, his son’s preparedness for the role, and his hopes for the next administration.

He began by lauding his 44 plus years in politics and broke down the amount of time he spent as prime minister into months, weeks and days. He noted with pride that he was the longest-serving leader in the world.

"I should say that in this world, the same person in power for the longest time is myself,” he said. “If we consider the time when I was the Prime Minister, I have already stated once that from Monday, January 14, 1985 to August 22, 2023, I was the Prime Minister for 2,014 weeks. In days it is 14,099 days, in months it is 460 months, in years it is 38 years, 7 months and 8 days.”

He then reminded the crowd that he would not be leaving Cambodian politics, just the executive branch. He specifically mentioned his intention to continue on as Senate President in the legislative branch early next year. "I am not going anywhere to abandon our people," he said.

He expressed empathy to those disappointed with his resignation and asked them to remain calm and understand his intentions. “It is very important to transfer from the previous generation to the next generation now, because most of them are over 60 over 70 and up to 80 years old,” he said. “We have so much, so it is best that we withdraw at an appropriate time like this and leave the executive tasks to the next generation."

He went on to tell the story of Prime Minister Hun Manet’s birth and early childhood, and appeared to get emotional when talking about how he had to abandon Manet and his mother when he went to Vietnam during the Khmer Rouge era. Grabbing tissues, he told the audience about the pain of his son calling him ‘uncle’ for two months after he returned. He said he was a proud father of the new prime minster and lauded Hun Manet’s accomplishments, especially his high-level education.

He finished by calling on all officials and authorities to support the new mandate of the Royal Government. He particularly addressed civil servants and the Cambodian Armed Forces to assist the next administration in its march towards progress.