| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Afghan Election Officials Fired Ahead of Run-off |
| 2009-10-23 |
| Top provincial election officials are to be replaced to prevent any possible fraud in next month's run-off vote, the UN says "More than half of the district field coordinators are being replaced to prevent any fraud or because there were complaints against them by candidates and observers," said a UN Kabul spokesman, Aleem Siddique. District election chiefs from 200 out of 380 districts in Afghanistan were fired, Siddique further said on Wednesday. Afghan President Hamid Karzai agreed to the run-off after the election investigation panel tossed out enough of his votes on Tuesday to cause a run-off against his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah. The second round of the disputed presidential election is slated for 7 November amid tight security measures and efforts to prevent any attempts of vote rigging and ballot stuffing. According to Mr Siddique, all the ballot materials are now in the country and are being packed for distribution to the provinces. Dr Abdullah, in a press conference on Wednesday, confirmed his 'full readiness' for the second round, adding that he phoned President Karzai and thanked him for accepting the run-off. The Afghanistan presidential election held on 20 August was tainted by widespread fraud that followed the attempts of Western countries to overcome the crisis. President Karzai's agreement to go for a second round received a warm global welcoming. US President Barack Obama and UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon said the run-off will give more credibility to the government that emerges from the vote. The Afghan government and the IEC are facing a challenging second round as the harsh winter makes most of the mountainous region inaccessible and the Taliban-led insurgency still remains a major threat to the process. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Vote for Diem! |
| Posted by: bman 2009-10-23 12:04 |
| #2 being fired is better than being shot/beheaded |
| Posted by: Oscar 2009-10-23 05:05 |
| #1 Just keep redoing the elections until the "correct" result is obtained. |
| Posted by: crosspatch 2009-10-23 05:04 |