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| Afghanistan | ||
| Afghan rivals accuse govt of rigging election | ||
| 2009-08-24 | ||
| [Al Arabiya Latest] The main challenger to President Hamid Karzai in last week's Afghan elections said on Sunday he had evidence the ballot had been widely rigged as around 225 allegations of irregularities in the elections were lodged with a complaints investigator as Western allies labeled the vote a "success." "The initial reports we are receiving are alarming," Karzai's challenger Abdullah Abdullah told a news conference three days after the election. "There might have been thousands of violations throughout the country, no doubt about it," he said. Ballot box tampering
Others related to violence, failures of supposedly indelible ink meant to prevent people from voting twice and interference in polling, he said. "As of close of business yesterday the ECC had received approximately 225 complaints. And these are complaints on and since election day," Kippen said. Some contained multiple allegations, he said, adding that more complaints could be received by the ECC, which is an independent Afghan organization. "Thirty five have been assigned a high priority and these are ones that we had to deem to be material to the outcome of the election results," he said. Preliminary results from the presidential vote, only the second in the history of Afghanistan, are expected in coming days but will be subject to ECC investigations. "We are aware of significant complaints of voting irregularities in provinces that were affected by violence on polling day," Kippen said, adding that these included the southern province of Kandahar, a Taliban stronghold. Insurgents from the Taliban, which was in government between 1996 and 2001, threatened to attack polling stations to disrupt the vote. There were a series of incidents, including rocket and bomb attacks, on election day. Security fears appear to have stopped some voters from casting their ballots. The elections authority has yet to release turnout figures but observers said it could be as low as 10 percent in the south. Vote for democracy
The European Union's observer mission was upbeat about the election as chief of the mission, former French general Philippe Morillon, said it was generally fair, although not free in all areas, labeling it a "victory for the Afghan people." But U.S.-based Human Rights Watch was scathing of such a positive assessment. Researcher Rachel Reid said it would be hard to believe for the millions of Afghans who experienced "one of the highest numbers of violent incidents in one day since the fall of the Taliban." The government said 26 Afghan security forces personnel and civilians were killed on voting day. Reid said the EU mission had not recognized the impact of high levels of violence and intimidation in volatile areas, where monitoring efforts were constrained by the insecurity. | ||
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 I'm pretty sure the Norwegian Synod wasn't shelling polling places in Duluth. |
| Posted by: Mitch H. 2009-08-24 11:20 |
| #2 the election went off better than the one in Venezuela that elected Hugo. And the one in Minnesota that elected Franken. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-08-24 07:55 |
| #1 so, by all accounts, the election went off better than the one in Venezuela that elected Hugo. funny that the usual left-tard whine-bots who shut their trap and in the case of Jimmah Carter lied about it, they will whine and wring their hands here because it hurts the US cause for the elections to look 'shoddy'. /spit |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2009-08-24 00:15 |