Main focus of Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Election without results in Afghanistan

Two months after the presidential elections in Afghanistan there is still no final result. The UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) announced on Monday that hundreds of thousands of votes were invalid, making it likely that Afghan President Hamid Karzai failed to achieve an absolute majority. However so far Karzai has rejected proposals for a run-off vote between him and the runner-up in the election Abdullah Abdullah.  

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung - Germany

The presidential elections have put Afghanistan in a desperate situation that only benefits the Taliban, writes the conservative daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: "What we have here is a grand orchestra of incompetence in which very many players have taken part: the candidates, the United Nations, the Americans and the Europeans. ... In involuntary cooperation with their former darling [President Hamid] Karzai, the international community has managed to manoeuver the country into a hopeless situation. If despite all the irregularities the incumbent is declared the winner of the first ballot in the days to come, the Afghan people will never believe that things are on the up and up. And if it comes to a run-off ballot, chances are the turnout will be so low that it won't confer any additional legitimacy on the government. ... The Taliban are serenely sitting back and gloating over this tragedy. The international community and the hated Karzai government are doing themselves more damage than the Taliban ever could." (20/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Security Policy / Crises / War, » Europe, » U.S., » Global, » Middle East, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Jochen Buchsteiner

Die Presse - Austria

The democratic experiment has failed, writes the daily Die Presse in view of the report by the UN Electoral Complaints Commission: "There is no longer any doubt that Karzai was implicated in a massive case of electoral fraud during the presidential elections on August 20. The UN commission investigating reports of fraud in the election has now declared several hundred thousand ballots invalid. With this finding, what has been obvious for several weeks now is more or less official: Karzai did not win an absolute majority. A run-off ballot is necessary. A government of national unity including his challenger [Abdullah Abdullah] will not solve the problem. The Afghan people must be given the possibility to vote Karzai out of office in a fair election. The West must now remain strict. It cannot denounce electoral manipulations in Iran and then give its blessing to Karzai." (20/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » Afghanistan
All available articles from » Christian Ultsch

The Times - United Kingdom

Afghan President Hamid Karzai must agree to a run-off ballot because the country needs a legitimate government, writes the conservative daily The Times: "He may well be minded not to. Mr Karzai ... has constructed his own complex network of local loyalties and alliances. For some time now, he has enjoyed posturing in the role of Afghanistan's defender against Western interests. Paradoxically, he also remains the West's least worst option as a figurehead for Afghanistan, and may feel that he cannot feasibly be dislodged. This is true, but he can be ignored. Ultimately, the West will need a functioning central government in Afghanistan, but in the shorter term there is much to be said for a more localised approach. ... Mr Karzai must know that he can be a working partner in the reconstruction of his country, or an impoverished irrelevance on the sidelines. … Nonetheless, our troops cannot continue to die to defend a corrupt regime. Afghanistan must have a legitimate government." (20/10/2009)

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More from the press review on the subject » International Relations, » Domestic Policy, » Elections, » United Kingdom, » U.S., » Afghanistan

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