July 28 Photo Brief: Lumberjack World Championships, The Sumo Run, election in Cambodia
Over 100 competitors compete in the Lumberjack World Championships, racers set out to achieve a Guinness World Record with The Sumo Run, election sees rise of a two-party system in Cambodia and more in today’s daily brief. | Warning: Visual coverage may depict injury and/or death.
- A man casts his vote during Mali’s presidential election in Timbuktu, Mali, July 28, 2013. (Joe Penney/Reuters)
- Palestinians chant slogans during a protest against resuming peace talks with Israel, in Gaza City July 28, 2013. Israel was expected on Sunday to approve releasing more than 100 Arab prisoners as a step to renew stalled peace talks with the Palestinians ahead of plans to convene negotiators in Washington later this week. (Mohammed Salem/Reuters)
- A senior North Korean military officer (L) and leaders are lit by a television camera light during an artistic performance to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the signing of a truce in the 1950-1953 Korean War, at Kim Il-sung Stadium, in Pyongyang July 28, 2013. (Jason Lee/Reuters)
- Clergy gather for Pope Francis’ final mass on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, July 28, 2013. Pope Francis, in a stunningly candid assessment of the state of the Catholic Church, said on Saturday it should look in the mirror and ask why so many people are leaving the faith of their fathers. (Sergio Moraes/Reuters)
- An Orthodox priest baptizes a woman in the Chulym river during a ceremony to mark the adoption of Christianity in Russia, outside Nazarovo town, 124 miles west of the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk, July 28, 2013. In 2013, Russia officially celebrated the 1,025th anniversary of the Christianization of Kievan Rus, marking its conversion to Christianity in 988. (Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)
- Gus Carlson, 74, competes in the Masters underhand chop event during the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin July 27, 2013. Over 100 competitors from around the world are competing in 21 events ranging from sawing and chopping to log rolling. (Eric Miller/Reuters)
- Stirling Hart (R), from British Columbia, competes against Brian Bartow (L) in the 90 foot open climb event during the Lumberjack World Championships in Hayward, Wisconsin July 27, 2013. Hart set a new world record in the climb. Over 100 competitors from around the world are competing in 21 events ranging from sawing and chopping to log rolling. (Eric Miller/ReuterS)
- Visitors crowd an artificial wave pool at a tourist resort to escape the summer heat in Daying county of Suining, Sichuan province, July 27, 2013. (China Daily/Reuters)
- A man raises his hands in front of a burning police vehicle following a brief clash at the end of election day in Phnom Penh July 28, 2013. Security was tightened in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, on Sunday after polling ended in a general election. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
- An election committee official lies unconscious after an angry mob surrounded her in a protest against alleged election irregularities at a polling station in Phnom Penh July 28, 2013. Cambodians voted on Sunday in an election likely to hand another five years in power to Asia’s longest-serving prime minister, Hun Sen, but an energized opposition says there have been irregularities and it will continue to fight for true democracy. (Damir Sagolj/Reuters)
- Riot policemen stand in a tear gas cloud during clashes within a student and workers protest against the government, in Lima on July 27, 2013. Students protested against a bill — that if passed — would reduce university autonomy, whilst workers did it against a new civil service law which could bring massive dismissals, according to the workers’ union. (Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images)
- A demonstrator is arrested by the police during a students and workers protest against the government, in Lima on July 27, 2013. Students protested against a bill — that if passed — would reduce university autonomy, whilst workers did it against a new civil service law which could bring massive dismissals, according to the workers’ union. (Ernesto Benavides/AFP/Getty Images)
- Brazil’s Terezinha Guilhermina crosses the finish line with a guide to win the women’s 200m T11 event during the London ‘Anniversary Games’ International Para Challenge athletics meeting at the Olympic Stadium, in east London July 28, 2013. The venue is where the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games were held one year ago. (Suzanne Plunkett/Reuters)
- An Indian Hindu male devotee dressed as a women carries ‘ghatam’, a pot filled with cooked rice and decorated with neem leaves, during the festival of Bonalu, a ritual offering to the goddess Kali, at the Sri Ujjaini Mahakali Temple on July 28, 2013. The Goddess Kali is honored mostly by women during Bonalu festival with offerings of food and dancing. (Noah Seelam/AFP/Getty Images)
- Participants get ready to apply facial masks on their faces in Taipei on July 28, 2013. Some 1,213 people reportedly broke the Guinness World Record by applying facial masks for 10 minutes at the same time in an event organized by a local face mask company. (Mandy Cheng/AFP/Getty Images)
- Participants take part in The Sumo Run in Battesea Park, west London, on July 28, 2013. The Sumo Run is an annual 5km charity fun run around the park in inflatable Sumo Suits. The event previously set a Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of people running in Sumo Suits. (Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images)
- Hot air-balloons fly over a field of sunflowers in Chambley-Bussieres, eastern France on July 27, 2013 as part of the yearly event “Lorraine Mondial Air Balloons.” Around 363 to 373 air balloons took part in the meet to try to set a world record. (Alexandre Marchi/AFP/Getty Images)
Party of PM Hun Sen wins Cambodian election, majority slashed
Prak Chan Thul, Reuters
11:25 a.m. EDT, July 28, 2013
PHNOM PENH (Reuters) – Cambodia’s ruling party won Sunday’s general election but with a much-reduced majority, according to the government, a result that will be seen as a setback for authoritarian leader Hun Sen, one of the world’s longest-serving prime ministers.
Khieu Kanharith, government spokesman and information minister, said on his Facebook page the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) won 68 seats in parliament to the opposition’s 55, adding that was the final count.
The National Election Committee (NEC) gave a list of results from each polling station but no tally for parliamentary seats.
Backed by a compliant media and with superior resources, the CPP was confident of victory, but analysts had predicted a reduction in its majority after the merger of two main opposition parties plus the return from self-imposed exile of popular long-time opposition leader Sam Rainsy.
While not formally conceding defeat for his Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), Sam Rainsy was conciliatory and called for calm after what were significant gains for the party.
“We want to thank all Cambodian people … regardless of their political affiliation, Cambodians who support all political parties, for their dignified participation in this election, for their contribution to make democracy move forward,” he told a news briefing.
The CPP had 90 of the 123 seats in the outgoing parliament and the parties that united to form the CNRP had just 29.
Sam Rainsy appealed to his youthful supporters not to cause any trouble. “We call for peace and reconciliation,” he said.
Military police blocked off a road leading to the home of Hun Sen, who has been in power for 28 years, and one going to the offices of the CPP and the NEC.
Trucks carrying soldiers were seen going into the city but by late evening the streets were calm.
Earlier, in a highly charged atmosphere, an angry crowd had set fire to two police cars outside a polling station, a Reuters photographer said.
However, voting, like the campaign itself, was for the most part peaceful despite anger at alleged electoral fraud.
Sam Rainsy’s party claimed electoral lists were manipulated to give the CPP more votes and complained about the disruption of meetings and campaigning by the security forces for Hun Sen.
“The partisanship of the military and police has created an intimidating atmosphere for voters in many parts of the country,” U.S.-based Human Rights Watch said in a statement ahead of the poll.
ROCKY PATH TO STABILITY
The United Nations organized an election in 1993 that put Cambodia on a rocky path towards stability after decades of turmoil, including the 1975-79 “Killing Fields” rule of the communist Khmer Rouge.
Under Hun Sen, a former junior commander in the Khmer Rouge who broke away during their rule, Cambodia has been transformed into one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing economies, helped by garment exports plus aid money and investment from China.
But economic growth has been accompanied by a rise in social tension over poor factory conditions and rural land rights in a country of 14 million where a third of the people live on less than 65 U.S. cents a day.
Before a royal pardon this month, Sam Rainsy had faced a jail sentence handed down in 2010 for spreading disinformation and falsifying maps to contest a new border agreed with Vietnam, charges he called politically motivated.
He returned too late to run in the election or even to vote, and the electoral authorities rejected his request to do so.
But the charismatic former finance minister had attracted large crowds to rallies, appealing to younger voters with no memory of the turmoil before Hun Sen helped restore stability.
At one polling station set up at a pagoda in Phnom Penh, 29-year-old Khat Sreynit said she wanted a better country and jobs for university graduates. “And also that people have a living wage,” she said, before rushing into the crowd to get a glimpse of Sam Rainsy, who had turned up there.
A 70-year-old voter clutching an ID card declined to give her name but said: “This election is important for the country. I have always voted before, since 1993, I voted for living conditions and the country.” She paid little attention to Sam Rainsy’s arrival.
(Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Robert Birsel and Peter Graff)