THE prime minister has no shortage of critics hoping for his
demise. Brad Adams of Human Rights Watch (HRW), a New York-based
NGO, recently compared Hun Sen with the series of notorious
autocrats recently ousted from power in the Arab world. Ben Ali,
Mubarak, Qaddafi: men who ruled by threat and force.  His
sentiments were backed loudly by one of Cambodia's long-serving
opposition leaders, Sam Rainsy. He insists from self-imposed
exile that his country is primed for an Arab spring and reckons
he's the man to lead it. (The Cambodian government regards him
as a fugitive, having convicted him on charges of spreading
false information.)  Their problem is that Hun Sen, who
according to Mr Adams's calculations is one of the world's top-
ten longest-serving political leaders, keeps on winning
elections—as he did again, just this week.  In regional terms
Cambodia's commune elections are a minor affair. The country has
1,633 communes, or clusters of villagers, which choose their
local leaders once every five years. The