Michael Semple: Karzai must not get away with this fraud

[IndianaGreen]

Michael Semple: Karzai must not get away with this fraud

There are no easy options, but the US can and must compel Afghanistan's leader to hold a second round of elections

Sunday, 13 September 2009

Salvaging something from the Afghan presidential election is going to require a big political push from the allies who help to prop up Afghanistan's government, even if that is only to see the electoral process through to conclusion.

The widely reported electoral fraud was not spontaneous, anarchic or inevitable. It was planned and systematic, with collusion from Afghan officialdom. The Independent Election Commission (IEC), despite being advised to hold back on announcements, has released provisional results giving the incumbent Hamid Karzai a slim majority. However, analysts who have been through the figures have concluded that this is due to fraudulently cast ballots.

An Election Complaints Commission is scrutinising results and considering complaints. In theory, the electoral process is far from over. The ECC has received enough complaints to strip Karzai of his majority and trigger a second round. The main challenger is sitting quiet for the moment but instability is feared should the IEC try to push through a tainted result. If everyone now plays by the rules and it is announced that the leading candidate received less than 50 per cent of the vote, there will have to be a second round.

There is contingency planning for a second poll. It is do-able in security terms and, politically, there is something to be said for it. In effect, the two candidates would be forced to construct cross-ethnic coalitions. Those who have argued that a second round would divisively pit northern Tajiks against southern Pashtuns have failed to comprehend the positive developments that have taken place in Afghan politics.

Karzai is well aware that the Pashtun vote alone is not enough to win an election, so he wooed Hazara, Uzbek and Tajik allies. His opponent and presidential contender, Abdullah Abdullah, also knows that to win, he has to style himself as a national leader, building his own cross-ethnic alliance and trying to appeal to both "reformist" and "warlord" voter blocs. This is politics. The candidate who does the best job of constructing a cross-ethnic alliance can claim legitimacy.

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/michael-semple-karzai-must-not-get-away-with-this-fraud-1786417.html

Our troops, including the Indiana National Guard, are in Afghanistan enduring difficult conditions and risking their lives while the corrupt Karzai sleeps with misogynist religious leaders, warlords like Rashid Dostum, and drug traffickers.

[Demeter]

1. Don't Hold Your Breath, It Will NEVER Happen

Karzai is BFEE's sock puppet. We just have to pull the support and he'll be gone. Not that THAT will happen, either.