KABUL – As Afghanistan is gearing up for an election run-off next month to elect a new president, doubts are running high that the new vote would be plagued by the same problems of fraud, low-turnout and violence. "This is not the end of the Afghan election saga,” political analyst Haroun Mir told Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, October 22.
“We will face the same issues as we faced in the first round."
Afghan voters will go to polling stations on November 7, to elect a new president from between incumbent Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
The run-off round was decided after investigations found that around a third of votes cast in the August 20 elections were fraudulent.
But analysts believe that the new vote would be plagued by the same problems of fraud, low-turnout and violence.
"It is hard to see how a second round can be credible," said Rachel Reid, of Human Rights Watch, adding that most Afghan women voters are confined indoors.
Huge numbers of fraudulent ballots were reportedly cast in the name of women by men who claimed to be voting for them by proxy. Large female turnout was one indicator of fraud used by the ECC.
The analysts expect the new ballot would be marked with low turnout and deadly Taliban violence.
"I think it will be even lower in the second round,” said Mir, director of the Afghanistan Centre for Research and Policy Studies.
The turnout of the August 20 election stood at 40 percent.
"In the past two months, the security situation in Afghanistan has worsened and I doubt we will be able to provide security in the country."
Eight years after the US invasion, Afghanistan is gripped by deadly violence over Taliban attacks against the US-led foreign troops and the Kabul government.
No Perfect
Freezing weather and lack of logistics are also expected to deter many voters from casting ballot in next month’s vote.
"In some places it is already snowing,” said parliamentarian and Karzai backer Shukria Barakzai.
Snow is already falling on the mountains, cutting off access and making it unlikely that people in those areas will be able to vote, even in safety.
The electoral commission may not be able to go and provide ballot papers for the people in those places."
The Afghan presidential vote is the second since the 2001 US invasion and is seen as part of a Western strategy to move Afghanistan towards democracy after decades of war.
The United Nations itself lowered expectations about the new round of the Afghan elections.
"This is not going to be a perfect run-off,” UN special envoy Kai Eide told the Doha-based Al-Jazeera television.
“This is a country in conflict and we have to remember that."
Analysts opine that postponing the vote until the next spring would help give more credibility to the vote.
"The next president will be in charge of the country for five years,” said Mir.
“It is not a big rush because we will decide the fate of Afghanistan for the next five years."
Source: IslamOnline
“We will face the same issues as we faced in the first round."
Afghan voters will go to polling stations on November 7, to elect a new president from between incumbent Hamid Karzai and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
The run-off round was decided after investigations found that around a third of votes cast in the August 20 elections were fraudulent.
But analysts believe that the new vote would be plagued by the same problems of fraud, low-turnout and violence.
"It is hard to see how a second round can be credible," said Rachel Reid, of Human Rights Watch, adding that most Afghan women voters are confined indoors.
Huge numbers of fraudulent ballots were reportedly cast in the name of women by men who claimed to be voting for them by proxy. Large female turnout was one indicator of fraud used by the ECC.
The analysts expect the new ballot would be marked with low turnout and deadly Taliban violence.
"I think it will be even lower in the second round,” said Mir, director of the Afghanistan Centre for Research and Policy Studies.
The turnout of the August 20 election stood at 40 percent.
"In the past two months, the security situation in Afghanistan has worsened and I doubt we will be able to provide security in the country."
Eight years after the US invasion, Afghanistan is gripped by deadly violence over Taliban attacks against the US-led foreign troops and the Kabul government.
No Perfect
Freezing weather and lack of logistics are also expected to deter many voters from casting ballot in next month’s vote.
"In some places it is already snowing,” said parliamentarian and Karzai backer Shukria Barakzai.
Snow is already falling on the mountains, cutting off access and making it unlikely that people in those areas will be able to vote, even in safety.
The electoral commission may not be able to go and provide ballot papers for the people in those places."
The Afghan presidential vote is the second since the 2001 US invasion and is seen as part of a Western strategy to move Afghanistan towards democracy after decades of war.
The United Nations itself lowered expectations about the new round of the Afghan elections.
"This is not going to be a perfect run-off,” UN special envoy Kai Eide told the Doha-based Al-Jazeera television.
“This is a country in conflict and we have to remember that."
Analysts opine that postponing the vote until the next spring would help give more credibility to the vote.
"The next president will be in charge of the country for five years,” said Mir.
“It is not a big rush because we will decide the fate of Afghanistan for the next five years."
Source: IslamOnline
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