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Abdullah denounces fraud in polls
[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Afghan President Hamid Karzai's main rival Abdullah Abdullah staged a rally of village elders on Tuesday to denounce fraud in last month's election and said he was doing all he could to keep his supporters off the streets.Abdullah has accused Karzai's government of stuffing ballot boxes on a massive scale and has lodged hundreds of allegations of fraud in the Aug. 20 ballot. In a packed hall in central Kabul, 300 tribal elders dressed in flowing white robes shook fists and delivered emotional speeches as they urged Abdullah to take action against what they described as widespread electoral violations. Addressing them from a stage flanked by armed guards, Abdullah vowed to protect their votes, but urged restraint. "My main concern today is that there is a lot of pressure from the people on me (to hold) demonstrations," Abdullah told Reuters on the sidelines of the meeting. I ask them for calm, I ask them for patience." An independent fraud watchdog, the Election Complaints Commission, is investigating almost 2,500 allegations of abuse, including 567 it says are serious enough to affect the outcome. Three of the commission's five members are United Nations appointees. Abdullah's main support base is among Tajiks in the north but Tuesday's gathering included elders from southern regions, where he has made an effort to show he has support. Karzai has not commented on fraud allegations. Posted by: Fred 2009-09-03 |
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