The normally tough, even authoritarian Hun Sen became unusually contrite and accommodating with the opposition, at least for a time. The CPP and CNRP ultimately made a deal that was supposed to reform the election commission, make the 2018 elections the fairest in the country’s modern history, and foster a culture of dialogue and cooperation in parliament. And in 2014 and early 2015, the deal seemed to briefly hold up. Some opposition supporters privately told me that Hun Sen would not stand for election at the head of his party in the 2018 elections, even though he will be only 65 years old then; they were convinced that in 2018, the CNRP would ride the youth vote and Hun Sen’s seeming weakness to victory.