Karzai terms conduct of presidential elections “honest”, maintains firm lead; Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) finds "clear and convincing" evidence of fraud and orders partial recount; Gates
  • Share
  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Whatsapp
  • Linkedin
  • Print

    • Despite charges of vote rigging and manipulation, President Karzai defended the conduct of the Afghan presidential elections as “honest.” The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), made up of UN personnel however stated that it had found "clear and convincing" evidence of fraud and ordered a partial recount1.

    After the tallying of over 95 percent of votes, President Karzai was firmly in the lead, having secured 54.3 percent, followed by Dr. Abdullah, who got 28.1 percent. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on its part did not take into account over 2 percent of the votes from about 600 polling stations in different provinces, due to alleged fraud and irregularities2.

    US Defence Secretary Robert Gates meanwhile in an interview to Al-Jazeera stated that the US will not repeat its previous mistake of abandoning the country and acknowledged that lack of American support after the Soviet withdrawal was a strategic blunder. Gates also regretted that the Americans did not cultivate the relationship with Pakistan “properly3.”

    US Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, speaking in Kabul on the occasion of 8th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks stated that peace in Afghanistan would be the best tribute to those killed in the incident4.

    Five US soldiers were killed on September 12, in a wave of bombings, ambushes and killings that swept across the country. At least 39 Afghan civilians and members of the Afghan security forces were also killed in attacks that occurred in different parts of the country5.

    In other developments, British, German and French leaders, in a joint letter to the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, urged the UN to convene an international summit to take stock of the situation in post-elections Afghanistan. They noted that the holding of the second presidential elections was an important step in the country’s nascent democratic history6.

    Top