US Cautiously Supports Karzai on New Election Law

[tekisui]

Source: Brisbane Times

US officials voiced support here for Afghan President Hamid Karzai's move to take control of an election watchdog in an apparent break with key allies fighting in the war-torn country.

The US support came after Karzai changed a law to give himself control of the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), just seven months ahead of legislative elections due in September.

Britain and Canada on Wednesday led diplomatic concern that there was now even less chance that future polls will be free and fair.

But Washington, which heads the NATO and US-led coalition fighting a Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, appeared to break ranks with its allies.

"We are supportive of the Afghan government stepping up and assuming its responsibilities for its own (election) process," State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said Wednesday.

The amendment lets Karzai appoint all five members of the ECC, an organisation that threw out as fraudulent more than half a million votes cast for him in the August 2009 presidential vote.

Under a previous law, three of the watchdog's members were appointed by the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan in an attempt to guarantee the neutrality of the panel in a country riven by graft and tribal allegiances.

more: http://news.brisbanetimes.com.au/breaking-news-world/us-cautiously-supports-karzai-on-new-election-law-20100225-p564.html

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The Obama Administration has now sanctioned Karzai as a dictator. Job well done! :eyes: