UN commission finds evidence of fraud in Afghan polls
Thursday, 10 September 2009
From Fazle Rashid
NEW YORK, Sept 09: "Don’t declare victory" was the blunt message US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry delivered to Hameed Karzai, the front runner in Afghanistan's presidential election which the United Nations-backed commission said it has found " clear and convincing evidence of fraud at several polling stations and ordered a partial recount".
The Afghan election officials defying the warning was preparing to declare Hameed Karzai as outright victor. The preliminary counting showed Karzai bagging 54.1 percent of votes against a 28.3 percent votes polled by his nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah. This will allow Karzai to avoid a run-off. All these allegations of fraud need to be acted upon, said the US State Department. This was a clear warning to all countries where vote rigging and fraud are common practice.
The widespread reports of systematic ballot stuffing have already strained relations between Afghan president and the US administration. The Obama administration has grown increasingly alarmed by the raft of allegations that ballot-stuffing and phantom polling stations generated lopsided margin in favour of Karzai, the New York Times (NYT) in a report said.
Fraud complaints will almost certainly undercut his legitimacy. The US administration is suggesting a possible path out of the problem would be if Karzai and Abdullah were able to work out a deal under which the later would join the government as in Zimbabwe. Abdullah denounced the tally as illegitimate. "We do not accept these results," his camp announced. Hameed Karzai in an interview with French paper La Figaro said, "there was fraud in 2004, there is fraud today and there will be fraud tomorrow". It is inevitable in a growing democracy, he asserted.
In another development, American citizens living outside the country are rushing for tax advice fearing they may face prosecution as the US government is chasing the tax dodgers. Fears have been fuelled by the decision of the Switzerland to reveal the names of 4450 wealthy Americans who have offshore accounts. Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) of the US is determined to clamp down on tax evasion. The US is preparing for action against big American financial institutions with illicit links with Iran.
In a separate development, oil ministers at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meeting in Vienna yesterday said the cartel saw no reason to further reduce production because the oil price is close to groups target. The oil traded in New York at $70 a barrel yesterday.
In neighbouring Mexico, in a cost cutting devise, President Felipe Calderon dropped three ministers from his cabinet. Calderon said he was ordering cuts in the salaries and perks of the senior government officials.
NEW YORK, Sept 09: "Don’t declare victory" was the blunt message US Ambassador Karl Eikenberry delivered to Hameed Karzai, the front runner in Afghanistan's presidential election which the United Nations-backed commission said it has found " clear and convincing evidence of fraud at several polling stations and ordered a partial recount".
The Afghan election officials defying the warning was preparing to declare Hameed Karzai as outright victor. The preliminary counting showed Karzai bagging 54.1 percent of votes against a 28.3 percent votes polled by his nearest rival Abdullah Abdullah. This will allow Karzai to avoid a run-off. All these allegations of fraud need to be acted upon, said the US State Department. This was a clear warning to all countries where vote rigging and fraud are common practice.
The widespread reports of systematic ballot stuffing have already strained relations between Afghan president and the US administration. The Obama administration has grown increasingly alarmed by the raft of allegations that ballot-stuffing and phantom polling stations generated lopsided margin in favour of Karzai, the New York Times (NYT) in a report said.
Fraud complaints will almost certainly undercut his legitimacy. The US administration is suggesting a possible path out of the problem would be if Karzai and Abdullah were able to work out a deal under which the later would join the government as in Zimbabwe. Abdullah denounced the tally as illegitimate. "We do not accept these results," his camp announced. Hameed Karzai in an interview with French paper La Figaro said, "there was fraud in 2004, there is fraud today and there will be fraud tomorrow". It is inevitable in a growing democracy, he asserted.
In another development, American citizens living outside the country are rushing for tax advice fearing they may face prosecution as the US government is chasing the tax dodgers. Fears have been fuelled by the decision of the Switzerland to reveal the names of 4450 wealthy Americans who have offshore accounts. Internal Revenue Service ( IRS ) of the US is determined to clamp down on tax evasion. The US is preparing for action against big American financial institutions with illicit links with Iran.
In a separate development, oil ministers at the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) meeting in Vienna yesterday said the cartel saw no reason to further reduce production because the oil price is close to groups target. The oil traded in New York at $70 a barrel yesterday.
In neighbouring Mexico, in a cost cutting devise, President Felipe Calderon dropped three ministers from his cabinet. Calderon said he was ordering cuts in the salaries and perks of the senior government officials.