The Star Online: World Updates
The Star Online: World Updates |
- Cambodia's Hun Sen set for victory in tense election
- Mali scrambles to be ready for Sunday's 'fresh start' vote
- Pope urges Brazil's youth to seek change, fight apathy
| Cambodia's Hun Sen set for victory in tense election Posted: PHNOM PENH (Reuters) - 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 energised opposition says there have been irregularities and it will continue to fight for true democracy. The opposition believes nearly a million names are missing from voter lists and has complained about the disruption of meetings, alleged vote-buying and campaigning by the security forces for Hun Sen, who defected from the genocidal Khmer Rouge and was first appointed premier in 1985. "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. The ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) is confident of victory but political analysts believe a stronger opposition may dent its majority. More than 9.6 million people are eligible to vote, with polls opening at 7 a.m. (0000 GMT) and closing at 3 p.m. (0800 GMT). Early results may come on Sunday evening. The opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) has been buoyed by the return home of a popular party leader, former finance minister Sam Rainsy, after a royal pardon. Sam Rainsy had faced the threat of 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 to Cambodia too late to register to run in the election, or even to vote, and the electoral authorities rejected his late request to do so. But Sam Rainsy has campaigned strongly for the opposition, attracting large crowds, and has complained to international observers of irregularities in the running of the election. "In spite of this uphill battle, any gain we make will be very significant. The election is not the end of our fight, it will be the beginning of the fight for real democracy," he said on Saturday. Under Hun Sen, Cambodia has been transformed from a war-torn basket case into one of Southeast Asia's fastest growing economies, helped by a burgeoning garment export industry and growing political and investment ties with China. But the breakneck economic growth has been accompanied by a rise in social tensions over poor factory conditions and rural land rights in the country of 14 million, where a third of people live on less than 65 U.S. cents per day. Hun Sen's CPP is a formidable electoral machine, with millions more party members, that easily outguns the opposition. Adding to its advantages is a compliant media, its deep pockets, and an election system that is prone to government meddling. "The CPP has 5.7 million members; the other party has only just over a million," said CPP lawmaker Cheam Teap, confident of victory in Sunday's ballot. Hun Sen's CPP had 90 of the 123 seats in the outgoing parliament while the CNRP had 29. CPP's Cheam Yeap said the ruling party would win between 88 and 92 seats, but some analysts believe the opposition has its best chance in years of denting the CPP majority. "The opposition will gain more seats, judging by all the support we've seen," said independent analyst Chea Vannath. "But regardless of how many more seats the parties get, they should be united for the country rather than confronting each other," she added, advocating a government of national unity. Alcohol sales and political campaigning were banned for 48 hours from midnight on Friday to ensure calm. (Writing by Alan Raybould; Editing by Mchael Perry) |
| Mali scrambles to be ready for Sunday's 'fresh start' vote Posted: BAMAKO (Reuters) - Malian election officials scrambled to distribute voting material for an election on Sunday intended to provide a fresh start to a country divided by a coup and a war in its desert north. Candidates wound up campaigns promising reconstruction and reconciliation but, underscoring security fears despite a successful French offensive against al Qaeda-linked fighters, an Islamist group threatened to attack polling stations. Separatist and Islamist rebels swept across the country's desert north last year shortly after soldiers ousted the president, an unprecedented crisis in the former French colony, previously seen as an island of stability in West Africa. Thousands of French troops halted a rebel advance in January and United Nations peacekeepers are deploying to stabilise the broken nation. A successful vote on Sunday would take the gold-producing country another step towards its recovery. "We need this election - it is critical," said Abdrahamane Toure, a postal worker who went to the Aminata Diop school in Bamako's Lafiabougou neighbourhood to check where he would vote. "Once we have a legitimate state back, things might start getting better," he added. In a sign of last-minute preparations, residents were still lining up to collect newly-printed ID cards that they will have to show in order to vote as a truck laden with plastic ballot boxes pulled up at the Bamako school on Saturday. Authorities also instructed some 6.8 million eligible voters how to find their polling stations by sending SMS messages to designated numbers. In the run-up to the vote, experts had warned that a rushed election might lead to challenges and further crises. But election officials say they have distributed 85 percent of the ID cards and a free and fair race in a field of 26 men and one women could take place. Louis Michel, head of the European Union's election observer mission, said he was "positively surprised" by preparations and that the conditions for the vote were acceptable. "A month ago, there were a lot of doubts (over the election). But it has come together. Everyone realises that this interim government has to end as its inherent fragility and uncertainty has been so costly for Mali," said Mary Beth Leonard, the U.S. ambassador to Bamako. Voting is due to start at 0800 GMT at 21,000 polling stations across the country, from the bustling, lush riverside capital in the south to the remote desert garrison town of Kidal, which was at the heart of last year's rebellion. Most of the front-runners are established political figures over the last 20 years of Malian politics so there is little likelihood of a radical overhaul of the country's democracy. A second round of voting will take place on August 11 if no candidate wins over 50 percent of the vote. "LOOKING FOR UNITY" Before last year's collapse, Mali, a poor nation straddling the south of the Sahara, had built up a reputation for stability and become Africa's No. 3 gold producer. Donors who slashed aid after the coup have promised over 3 billion euros in reconstruction assistance after the election. The new president will have to oversee peace talks with separatist Tuareg rebels who have agreed to allow the vote to take place in areas they operate in but have yet to lay down their arms. France is hoping a successful vote will allow it to scale down its military presence in Mali from around 3,000 troops currently. A 12,600-strong U.N. mission is rolling out. While there have been few counter-attacks by Islamists since they were scattered from their northern strongholds, MUJWA, one of the groups that occupied Mali's north last year, on Saturday threatened to attack polling stations. "Places of the so-called election will be a target for the strikes of the Mujaahideen (holy strugglers)," Mauritania's Nouakchoute News Agency quoted the group as saying in a statement, a copy of which was obtained by the agency. The group also warned what it called the Muslims of Mali against taking part in the elections and urged them to stay away. Election experts said they expect some problems given the rushed preparations but added the key to stability was ensuring no-one were seen aiding one side or the other. "All we are looking for is unity," Mohamed Kale, imam at Bamako's Grand Mosque, told Reuters after Friday prayers. "This vote will allow us to find a leader so it has to be a good one. The number of people who take part will give this legitimacy," he added. (Additional reporting by Sami Aboudi; Writing by David Lewis; Editing by Sonya Hepinstall) |
| Pope urges Brazil's youth to seek change, fight apathy Posted: [unable to retrieve full-text content]RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Pope Francis on Saturday encouraged Brazil's young people, who have protested against corruption in their country, to continue their efforts to change society by fighting apathy and offering "a Christian response." |
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