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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Karzai Rival Refuses to Concede Election |
| 2004-10-17 |
| 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 |
| #3 But voting is soooooo hard. I tried to vote for Pat Buchannan last time and ended up voting for this gore person! I need help and government assistance! Now! Send Jimmuah with dough. Where's my FEMA check? |
| Posted by: Broward County Maroon 2004-10-17 1:07:28 PM |
| #2 I don't think Mr. Qanooni should concede until all of the votes have been counted. After all, votes don't count until they are actually counted, however exciting it was for people to cast them. Because this is the Afghan people's first excercise in democracy, no shortcut should be taken that could lead to questions later. We here in America have to wait almost three months to swear in a new president; the system was set up that way to allow time for the most distant votes to be registered before the final tally was declared. If, after all the votes are tallied, Mr. Qanooni or another candidate then protests the results, then we can talk about learning from Democrat practices. |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2004-10-17 12:54:34 PM |
| #1 Sounds like Qanooni has been in close touch with the Kerry campaign operatives and lawyers. They are learning too fast about US voting in Afghanistan. |
| Posted by: Alaska Paul 2004-10-17 12:42:38 PM |