1.   Regaining that legitimacy requires accountability, checks and balances, openness, and decentralization.

2.   By holding the July election, he hopes to regain legitimacy in the eyes of the international community, which criticized the coup and cut off aid.

3.   By holding the polls, Hun Sen hopes his government can regain legitimacy in the eyes of other nations, which criticized his takeover and cut off aid.

4.   He made progress toward regaining international legitimacy by holding the elections, but appears to be losing it at home.

5.   Hun Sen has tried to regain international legitimacy by calling elections for next year.

6.   Only with the holding of a reasonably free election last year did Hun Sen start to regain some legitimacy in the international community.

7.   The election was an attempt by Hun Sen to regain international legitimacy after he deposed Ranariddh as co-prime minister in a bloody coup last year.

8.   The State Department expressed doubts that an international force could restore order unless the government regains its legitimacy.