Afghanistan election descends into farce

The most glaring flaw involved the indelible ink used to mark the thumbs of those who voted in order to prevent multiple voting. On polling day, it soon became evident that in many cases the ink could be easily washed off. As opposition candidates were quick to point out, this opened the way for ballot rigging on a massive scale. Other irregularities, including under-age voters and political bias by election officials, were also reported.

According to a briefing paper by the US-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) last month, multiple voter registration was widespread. UN and Afghan officials told HRW that the overall number of registered voters was “vastly inflated”. Of the 10.5 million on the electoral roll, estimates put the actual number of voters as low as 5 to 7 million. The ink was meant as a guarantee that those with multiple registration cards would be unable to use them.

All 15 opposition candidates called for a boycott, urging election officials to stop the polling and to hold the election again. In the cities of Kunduz and Herat, supporters of Yunis Qanooni, regarded as Karzai’s main challenger, held protests outside a number of polling booths. In Kabul, one resident told the British-based Independent: “There were a lot of violations. In Wardak, one person voted 100 times. If they declare Karzai a winner, it will be a puppet government.”

In comments to the Washington Post, presidential candidate Homayoun Shah Assefy said he had received many calls from polling places in southern and eastern Afghanistan complaining of irregularities that favoured Karzai. “This was not an accident. It was pre-organised. Yesterday I thought this was an historic day, but unfortunately it was a black day for democracy and the future of democracy in Afghanistan,” he declared.

The US and UN quickly stepped in to prevent the protest over the ink debacle from exposing the election as a carefully contrived charade. UN and Afghan election officials rejected calls for voting to be suspended. Behind the scenes, US ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad began a round of meetings with opposition candidates aimed at pressuring them to back down. According to the New York Times, Khalilzad “suggested” to Qanooni that he “could best help his own political future by not appearing to thwart the will of the Afghans”.

Well aware who pulls the strings in Kabul, Qanooni and several other prominent candidates quickly backed down. Qanooni indicated yesterday that he would accept the outcome of a UN investigation into voting irregularities. The UN has already named two of the three so-called independent experts to the panel that will clear the way for the counting of votes to begin.

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http://wsws.org/articles/2004/oct2004/afgh-o12.shtml