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Afghan Election Frontrunner Releases Audio to 'Prove' Fraud Claims
[AnNahar] The campaign team of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... on Sunday released audio recordings which they said contained evidence of fraud against a senior member of the country's Independent Election Commission (IEC). The accusation came as hundreds of Abdullah's supporters held protests against alleged irregularities for a second day across Kabul, as a political stalemate deepens in the country. Abdullah won the first round of the poll to succeed President Hamid Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtunface on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... , gaining 45 percent of the vote while his nearest rival Ashraf Ghani won 31.6 percent. But he has boycotted the vote count after the second round run-off, accusing Karzai of interfering to favor his rival. The dispute threatens to pitch Afghanistan into crisis as NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... combat troops withdraw from a 13-year war against Taliban Death Eaters. A smooth election was seen as a key benchmark for the U.S.-led coalition that has fought against the Taliban and donated billions of dollars in aid since 2001. The allegations are centered around the secretary of the IEC, Zia ul Haq Amarkhail, who stands accused of irregularities during the transporting of unused ballots during the June 14 poll. Abdullah's team at a presser released the recordings, which total 13 minutes of poor-quality audio and purport to be conversations between Amarkhail, other IEC officials and "a member of Ghani's team." They include Amarkhail allegedly reassuring the member of Ghani's team that staff would be "used" to favor his election. In one recording, Amarkhail allegedly tells an IEC member from the northwestern province of Faryab to fire his entire staff and change them for Pashtuns and Uzbeks. Ghani is a Pashtun, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, which is strongest in the Taliban heartlands of the south and east. One of his running mates, infamous warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum ...ethnic Uzbek warlord who distinguished himself fighting the Soviets and the Taliban. The story that he had a bad guy run over with a tank is an exaggeration. It was an armored personnel carrier... is a popular Uzbek leader. Abdullah's team has refused to disclose how it obtained the recordings and it is not possible to confirm their authenticity. Amarkhail could not immediately be reached for comment. Baryalai Arsalai, Abdullah's campaign manager, on Sunday said the IEC had conspired with "senior members of the government... in supporting one candidate in the election, they have organized rigging, cheating and manipulation." He promised to release further "proof" of fraud to the media in the coming days. Earlier, protesters who had gathered by the presidential palace chanted "Long live Abdullah" and called for the death of Afghanistan's electoral commission chief, who is handling the fraud allegations. A similar-sized gathering in the western city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... saw a group largely composed of students burn their voter registration cards in protest at alleged irregularities. Abdullah, a former foreign minister who says he was also cheated of victory in the 2009 election against Karzai, has alleged that the turnout figure of seven million in the run-off was exaggerated, and that in several provinces there were more votes than eligible voters. Sunday's protests came a day after more than 1,000 of Abdullah's supporters marched through Kabul in another largely peaceful demonstration. The two days of "anti-fraud" rallies were not organized by Abdullah's campaign, but the crowds appeared to be made up of Abdullah supporters. The United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Assistance Mission in Afghanistan on Sunday urged "responsible" use of social media platforms to avoid increasing tensions. "There has been a disturbing tone in some social media platforms, and we urge supporters of the candidates in the Afghanistan's Caped Presidential elections to refrain from inflammatory statements, hate speech or statements which promote divisive ...politicians call things divisivewhen when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive,they're principled... ethnic mobilization," said Jan Kubis, head of UNAMA. Abdullah and Karzai have asked the U.N. to step in to solve the political deadlock. The threat of ethnic unrest is a grim prospect for Afghanistan, where tribal loyalties are still fierce after the 1992-1996 civil war. Abdullah's support is based among the Tajik minority and other northern tribes. Posted by: trailing wife 2014-06-23 |
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