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| Afghanistan |
| Karzai elected as Afghan leader |
| 2002-06-14 |
| Hamid Karzai has been elected to a two-year term as Afghanistan's head of state. Surprised we are completely "un." Karzai, who has led the country as interim government chairman since December, won by an overwhelming margin. Of the roughly 1,600 members of the loya jirga who voted, Karzai got 1,295 votes. The announcement of his victory was greeted with applause. An 80% margin? Not too bad. High enough for a "mandate," not so high as Perv's Stalinist-style referendumb margin, which threatened to go over 100%. The fixes weren't real blatant. Dr. Massouda Jalal, the second-place candidate, received 171 votes, while Dr. Mahsfuz Medai followed with 89 in the country's first vote for president since it gained independence in 1919. Wonder if they'll ever make it a habit? |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |