PHNOM PENH: After two days of betting and no response from Sam Rainsy, the future Prime Ministerial candidate, Hun Manet, described Sam Rainsy as a coward who did not dare to defend his argument and told Sam Rainsy to leave politics.

Writing on his Facebook page on Thursday morning, Hun Manet said, "I think you are old enough to rest and give up your ambitions, please give the next generation a chance to grow.”

He continued, “…Do you dare to choose your successor for your party and give them the opportunity to compete with CPP successors like me for people to vote?”

On Tuesday, Hun Manet posted a response to Sam Rainsy's comments about his university degrees being of a second-class or honorary nature, by calling for a bet on “political life” with Sam Rainsy.

The terms of the bet state that if Sam Rainsy is able retrieve evidence that Hun Manet's degrees are second-class diplomas or honorary degrees, then Hun Manet will willingly resign from the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) candidacy for future Prime Minister. On the other hand, if Sam Rainsy cannot find anything to defend his statement, then he must resign from politics.

On Wednesday, a group of former Cambodian students who studied abroad issued an open letter asking Sam Rainsy to show responsibility and publicly apologize for claiming that degrees obtained by Cambodian students from foreign schools are only second-class diplomas or honorary degrees.

The former students, who have all completed doctoral degrees from foreign universities, stated that they consider Sam Rainsy's public statement to be detrimental to their honor and dignity, and does not acknowledge the hard work of those who study abroad, also affecting the impression the public has of the quality of education abroad.

They state in their letter, "We ask the stated politician (Sam Rainsy) to correct and publicly apologize for the unsubstantiated and irresponsible allegations of the quality of education that we receive abroad, to form a heroic example to the next generation of leaders.”

Sam Rainsy, born in 1949, has been an opposition politician since 1998.