The politics of Cambodia takes place in a frame work of a constitutional monarchy, where by the Prime Minister is the head of government and a Monarch is head of state. The kingdom formally operates according to the nation's constitution (enacted in 1993) in a framework of a parliamentary, representative democracy. Executive power is exercised by Prime Minister, Hun Sen. Legislative power is vested in the two chambers of parliament, the National Assembly.
The Prime Minister of Cambodia is a representative from the ruling party of the National Assembly. He or she is appointed by the King on the recommendation of the President and Vice Presidents of the National Assembly. In order for a person to become Prime Minister, he or she must first be given a vote of confidence by the National Assembly.
The Prime Minister is officially the Head of Government in Cambodia. Upon entry into office, he or she appoints a Council of Ministers who are responsible to the Prime Minister. Officially, the Prime Minister's duties include chairing meetings of the Council of Ministers (Cambodia's version of a Cabinet) and appointing and leading a government. The Prime Minister and his government make up Cambodia's executive branch of government.
The current Prime Minister is Cambodian People's Party (CPP) member Hun Sen. He has held this position since the criticized 1998 election, one year after the CPP staged a bloody coup in Phnom Penh to overthrow elected Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh, president of the FUNCINPEC party. Hun Sen has vowed to rule until he is 74. Hun Sen is a former Khmer Rouge member who defected and oversaw Cambodia's rise from the ashes of war. His government is regularly accused of ignoring human rights and suppressing political dissent. After the 2013 election results, disputed by Hun Sen's opposition, demonstrators were injured and killed in Cambodia in protests in the capital where a reported 20,000 protesters gathered, some clashing with riot police. From a humble farming background, Hun Sen was just 33 when he took power in 1985 and is now in the unenviable company of enduring dictators such as Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Kazakhstan's Nursultan Nazarbayev.