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Democracy Afghan style: "Vote, or we burn your home!"
| Call me crazy, but to me this seems more like democracy Chicago-style. |
KHOST, Sept 23: One of the largest Pakhtun tribes in southeastern Afghanistan threatened on Thursday to torch the homes of voters who fail to elect incumbent Hamid Karzai in next month's presidential vote. "All the Terezay tribes' people should vote for Hamid Karzai...if anyone from Terezay tribe votes for other candidates, the tribe will burn their houses," the tribe warned on local radio in the border province of Khost. | After which the Marines will come and burn yours. |
In a tape of the broadcast, the statement urged both male and female members of the tribe to take part in the polls and throw their support behind Mr Karzai, a fellow Pakhtun. "All of Terezay tribe people, including males and females, have to vote for Hamid Karzai because he is the only suitable person for the presidential post," it said. The Terezays number between 120,000 and 150,000 and are scattered in the mountains of southern and eastern Afghanistan. | I rather like this style of campaigning. Direct and to the point; no nuance here! Terezay tribe is taking the voting process seriously and acknowledging the women voters. They grasp the concept of "one person, one vote." They will abide by the results of the election (as long as it swings their way, heehee). They've come a long way from the Stone Age they existed in on September 10, 2001. |
Mr. Karzai, favourite to win the Oct 9 polls, must draw his support from the same communities that the Taliban militants hail from. The English-speaking transitional leader will race against 17 candidates, among them former education minister, Yunus Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik who enjoys wide support in the north. | While Terezay tribe debates the finer points of party machine politics and getting the vote out, the "Short-Bus Coalition" also has election ambitions: |
Taliban-led militants have threatened to disrupt the polls and attack all 18 candidates.
How can the people who are so stupid be trusted to govern themselves, as a nation they are not classifiable as adults and it is true for the whole muslim part of the globe
Posted by: Fawad 2004-09-25 |
