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| Afghanistan/South Asia | |
| Afghanistan set to start counting votes | |
| 2004-10-13 | |
| Afghanistan was set to start counting votes on Wednesday from a historic presidential election after several candidates backed off from declaring the poll illegal. The ballots poured into collection centres across the country, brought by donkey, road and helicopter, with officials expecting to start counting sometime on Wednesday. US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad has been influential in persuading several rivals of frontrunner President Hamid Karzai to abandon a boycott of Saturday's landmark poll over what they said were fraud and irregularities. The Afghan-UN Joint Electoral Management Body (JEMB) is setting up a panel to investigate. Privately, election officials say few votes were fraudulent and would have no major effect on the poll. Karzai's chief rival, Yunus Qanuni, on Monday withdrew a boycott call, issued after suspicions emerged of illegal multiple voting after a mix-up at some polling stations over the type of ink used to mark voters' fingers. Another main candidate, Uzbek general Abdul Rashid Dostum, came to Kabul and met Khalilzad, but there was no immediate word on the outcome of the meeting. Agreement by Dostum to recognise the election, joining Qanuni and Hazara leader Mohammad Mohaqiq, would signal the collapse of the boycott that had undermined a vote in which millions of Afghans turned out despite threats of attacks by Islamic fundamentalist Taleban insurgents.
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| Posted by:Steve White |
| #8 crickets, as expected. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-10-13 10:33:14 AM |
| #7 This thread has gone too far into domestic politics as it is. Im glad Dostum has joined with Qanuni and Mohaqiq on the election. Q: is it because its been established the ink think only effected a few places, or have they been promised some kind of cabinet participation? |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-10-13 9:59:33 AM |
| #6 Please link to trunk violence running up to this election or other indication it will not accept results gracefully. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-10-13 9:36:16 AM |
| #5 then why the reference to "lose" - nobodys lost the 2004 general election yet. I hope whoever loses does so gracefully. I see plenty of signs of absence of such grace on both sides. |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-10-13 9:31:36 AM |
| #4 I did not read the comment as a reference to the 2000 election but as a reference to the sacking of Republican offices and other acts of violence that have been characteristic of only one party in this country in the current election. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-10-13 9:25:23 AM |
| #3 how about we just accept that folks disagree about the 2000 election, and not compare that disagreement to whats going on in Afghanistan? |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-10-13 9:16:35 AM |
| #2 They could say it, but they'd be wrong, that's for sure. |
| Posted by: Mrs. Davis 2004-10-13 9:12:55 AM |
| #1 These guys have to learn how to lose gracefully. Come to think of it, so do a lot of Democrats. Some would say that that the GOP should have accepted their loss gracefully, in 2000 :) |
| Posted by: Liberalhawk 2004-10-13 9:05:58 AM |