|
Karzai Rival Refuses to Concede Election
Hamid Karzai's closest rival in Afghanistan's landmark election insisted Sunday he has a chance for victory, saying Karzai's commanding lead was based on early results and the election could turn on an investigation of fraud allegations. Former Education Minister Yunus Qanooni told the Associated Press that he was preparing to be in the political opposition as the country moves toward Western-style democracy — though he added that whether he recognizes the results depends on the honesty of the probe into fraud complaints.Preliminary returns from the Oct. 9 election put Karzai on course for a landslide in a vote supposed to cement Afghanistan's post-Taliban stabilization. Of the 595,000 votes tallied by Sunday morning, the U.S.-backed Karzai had received almost 64 percent. That puts Karzai on course for the simple majority needed to avoid a run-off, though only about 7 percent of the total ballots cast have been counted so far. Qanooni, who has about 17 percent of the vote, said "the figures will change" in his favor as more ballots are counted. Election officials also have cautioned against calling the election too soon. Posted by: Fred 2004-10-17 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=46210 |