Cambodia’s Prime Minister Hun Sen says he will step down and hand over power to his son, ending an almost four-decade reign that has in recent years overseen an erosion of democracy in the south-east Asian country.

“Hun Manet … will become the prime minister in the coming weeks,” Hun Sen said in a nationally televised address, adding his son would be appointed to the post by the king on August 10 and parliament would confirm the new premier with a vote on August 22.

Hun Sen, who has ruled the south-east Asian country for 38 years, was speaking just days after his ruling Cambodian People’s Party swept a general election after running virtually unopposed.

Western-educated military general Hun Manet, who has said little of his vision for the country, won a seat representing the capital Phnom Penh in Sunday’s election.

Critics denounced the poll as a sham after the government disqualified the main opposition party on a technicality and threatened to penalise anyone calling for a boycott.

Hun Sen said he would stay on as head of the ruling party and member of the National Assembly.

The newly elected parliament would convene on August 21 and the new premier and a new cabinet would be sworn in on August 22, he said.

-Reuters