Cambodia in 2002

With its first internationally endorsed local election in decades, first rotational chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, and financial assistance pledged from donor countries and multilateral institutions, Cambodia made significant progress in 2002. Prime Minister Hun Sen's Cambodian People's Party swept to victory in local elections, but for the first time it will have to share power at the local level. The Royalist FUNCINPEC Party underwent further decline and infighting. Cambodia received $615 million in financial pledges from international donors, and economic growth increased by a modest 4.5ÿpercnt; to 5ÿpercnt;. In February, the United Nations withdrew from negotiations for a trial of surviving leaders of Pol Pot's regime in the 1970s, but late in the year the possibility of further discussions emerged.