THE ASEAN-10

The political outlook of the Southeast Asian nations are presented. In Brunei Darussalam, the monarchical system is well entrenched, and will continue for the foreseeable future. Neither the current ruler, Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, the 29th Sultan in the lineage, nor the Crown Prince and Deputy Sultan, Haji Al-Muhtadee Billah, is in any hurry to change the national political order. Coming on the heels of an overwhelming National Assembly (NA) victory in the Jul 27, 2008 elections, the ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) will govern Cambodia in the next five years with little-to-no-effective political opposition. In 2009 Indonesian politics will be dominated by parliamentary and presidential elections that will result in another coalition government though with a slightly different vote allocation among the leading parties. Politics in the Lao People's Democratic Republic is almost entirely opaque to outside observers. Nothing is reported in the tightly controlled Lao media by way of political commentary, let alone speculation.