[Al Arabiya Latest] The United Nations will replace more than 200 poll monitors implicated in fraud in Afghanistan's presidential election, U.N. Chief Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday, as the country prepared for a run-off.In a televised interview, Ban said the U.N. would "take all necessary measures, (both) administrative and security" to ensure that irregularities that tainted the first round of voting on Aug. 20 were not repeated.
An inquiry by a U.N.-backed watchdog this week confirmed staggering levels of fraud, most of it in favor of President Hamid Karzai. It declared more than one million ballots suspect -- a quarter of the total cast.
"We will try to replace all the officials who have been implicated in not following the guidelines or who have been complicit in fraudulent procedures," Ban said, promising a "transparent and credible" run-off on Nov. 7.
| Thus allowing Bambi to kick the can down the road for a couple weeks ... |
Threats of Taliban violence dogged the first round, and Ban said the U.N. would work with the NATO-run International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) and Afghan authorities to protect polling stations.
"We will coordinate closely with the ISAF and Afghan national forces to ensure there is security under which the Afghan (people) can express their will without any intimidation or threat."
"We will also try to visit all the polling stations to make sure that no such fraud can happen, and we will try not to open polling stations where during the first election there weren't any polling elections."
Karzai was forced to agree Tuesday to a second round after the U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission rejected fraudulent ballots from 210 polling stations.
His chief rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, should discover his official share of the vote later Wednesday.
Although a preliminary tally gave him around 28 percent, his final share is expected to be nearer 32 percent. Officials said that Karzai won 49.67 percent, just under the 50-percent threshold required for an outright win.
A second round had to be held rapidly, before harsh winter sets in to make much of the country inaccessible.
| Practice makes perfect. |