By Naveed Qazi | Editor, Globe Upfront A s the 2018 general election approached in Cambodia, concerns over political openness intensified. Critics of Prime Minister Hun Sen and the Cambodian People's Party (CPP) argued that the electoral environment had become increasingly restrictive, with authority concentrated around the executive and growing influence exerted over key state institutions, including the judiciary, security apparatus and media. These concerns were not merely rhetorical. The closure of The Cambodia Daily in September 2017, the expulsion of the United States-based National Democratic Institute (NDI), and sustained pressure on independent radio stations broadcasting Radio Free Asia and Voice of America programming were widely documented by international observers as evidence of a broader contraction of civic space. Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and Reporters Without Borders all reported a sustained pattern of legal and administrative pressure directe...