On June 14 Afghans went to the polls again to vote in the second round of
the Presidential Elections. News channels around the world showed images of
voters standing in long queues at polling stations to decide the political
destiny of the Afghan nation.
The struggle for the presidency is between former Mujahideen Commander Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, both of whom failed to secure a 50% majority in the first round of the elections. In the first round Abdullah and Ghani gathered 45% and 31% of the votes, leaving Ghani trailing behind by 14%.
Although no statistics have been released by the Independent Election Commission (IEC), according to the media, voting turnout had dropped considerably compared to the previous round. Controversy arose when Yousof Noristani, head of IEC informally estimated the turnout as more than 7 million; an assertion that Dr. Abdullah categorically dismissed, arguing it was merely impossible that the turnout would be higher than in the first round of elections.
President Karzai called on citizens to “come out and vote and determine your country’s destiny”. Karzai has been passive in the run-up to the second round unlike the first round where his tacit support was behind Zalmai Rasoul. He is thought to remain an influential figure in the country after he ceases to hold power.
The secretary of the IEC Zia Al Haq Amarkhel was accused of vote rigging in favour of Ashraf Ghani. He was stopped by Kabul Police while transporting dozens of boxes of filled with ballot papers to an unknown location without police escort. Election laws outline that ballot papers can only be moved with police escort. A scuffle broke out between Amerkhel’s bodyguards and the police when his bodyguards attempted to prevent police from searching the vehicle. Amerkhel rejected the accusations, insisting he was transporting the material to Sorobi, a town east of Kabul where extra ballot papers were requested.
Although such incidents remain isolated, there is speculation that the scuffle was a likely result of ethic and political dissentions as Kabul’s police commander, an ethnic Tajik and supporter of Abdullah, of stopping Amerkhel, a Pashtun and potential supporter of Ghani.
In a news conference on Sunday, Abdullah confident that fraud had been widespread and on-going called for Amarkhel’s suspension from his post and expressed a lack of trust in the transparency of the election Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman claimed that Abdullah’s comments seem to indicate that any results that would not be in his favour would prove to be problematic for him to accept; and denounced Abdullah’s claims the Amerkhel incident was being used to cast a shadow of doubt over the impartiality of the election process. Amarkhel vehemently denied all allegations of vote rigging stating it was a conspiracy against him.
It is clearly evident from these incidents that there is deep mistrust between the parties. The election complaints commission reported a total of 664 complaints from Abdullah, 573 complaints from Ashraf Ghani and 507 complaints from government officials.
Tribalism and ethnicity are important factors in influencing the people’s decision. The sad reality is, tribal loyalties play a huge part and there is no doubt that the election has become ethnically based. The Pashtuns clearly favour Ghani and the Uzbeks, thanks to Ghani’s controversial alliance with General Dostam, favour Ghani too. Tajiks favour Abdullah and the presence of influential Hazara leader Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq has brought Hazara support to the Abdullah camp too.
The Ministry of Interior reported 150 attacks nationwide in the midst of the election process, leaving 10 dead and another 150 injured. Afghan journalists reported higher figures, including the death of 11 policemen, 15 military, 20 civilians and 60 Taliban throughout the country. In many rural areas, fear of the Taliban and the high security threat kept voters away. In the Herat province, eleven men had their index fingers cut off by the Taliban because they were stained with the indelible ink that marked them out as voters.
The struggle for the presidency is between former Mujahideen Commander Abdullah Abdullah and former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani, both of whom failed to secure a 50% majority in the first round of the elections. In the first round Abdullah and Ghani gathered 45% and 31% of the votes, leaving Ghani trailing behind by 14%.
Although no statistics have been released by the Independent Election Commission (IEC), according to the media, voting turnout had dropped considerably compared to the previous round. Controversy arose when Yousof Noristani, head of IEC informally estimated the turnout as more than 7 million; an assertion that Dr. Abdullah categorically dismissed, arguing it was merely impossible that the turnout would be higher than in the first round of elections.
President Karzai called on citizens to “come out and vote and determine your country’s destiny”. Karzai has been passive in the run-up to the second round unlike the first round where his tacit support was behind Zalmai Rasoul. He is thought to remain an influential figure in the country after he ceases to hold power.
The secretary of the IEC Zia Al Haq Amarkhel was accused of vote rigging in favour of Ashraf Ghani. He was stopped by Kabul Police while transporting dozens of boxes of filled with ballot papers to an unknown location without police escort. Election laws outline that ballot papers can only be moved with police escort. A scuffle broke out between Amerkhel’s bodyguards and the police when his bodyguards attempted to prevent police from searching the vehicle. Amerkhel rejected the accusations, insisting he was transporting the material to Sorobi, a town east of Kabul where extra ballot papers were requested.
Although such incidents remain isolated, there is speculation that the scuffle was a likely result of ethic and political dissentions as Kabul’s police commander, an ethnic Tajik and supporter of Abdullah, of stopping Amerkhel, a Pashtun and potential supporter of Ghani.
In a news conference on Sunday, Abdullah confident that fraud had been widespread and on-going called for Amarkhel’s suspension from his post and expressed a lack of trust in the transparency of the election Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman claimed that Abdullah’s comments seem to indicate that any results that would not be in his favour would prove to be problematic for him to accept; and denounced Abdullah’s claims the Amerkhel incident was being used to cast a shadow of doubt over the impartiality of the election process. Amarkhel vehemently denied all allegations of vote rigging stating it was a conspiracy against him.
It is clearly evident from these incidents that there is deep mistrust between the parties. The election complaints commission reported a total of 664 complaints from Abdullah, 573 complaints from Ashraf Ghani and 507 complaints from government officials.
Tribalism and ethnicity are important factors in influencing the people’s decision. The sad reality is, tribal loyalties play a huge part and there is no doubt that the election has become ethnically based. The Pashtuns clearly favour Ghani and the Uzbeks, thanks to Ghani’s controversial alliance with General Dostam, favour Ghani too. Tajiks favour Abdullah and the presence of influential Hazara leader Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq has brought Hazara support to the Abdullah camp too.
The Ministry of Interior reported 150 attacks nationwide in the midst of the election process, leaving 10 dead and another 150 injured. Afghan journalists reported higher figures, including the death of 11 policemen, 15 military, 20 civilians and 60 Taliban throughout the country. In many rural areas, fear of the Taliban and the high security threat kept voters away. In the Herat province, eleven men had their index fingers cut off by the Taliban because they were stained with the indelible ink that marked them out as voters.
