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New preliminary election results in Afghanistan show incumbent president Hamid Karzai winning re-election without a second round of voting. But allegations of fraud continue to mar the electoral process. Now European Union observers say that up to a quarter of the ballots cast are suspect. The World’s Jason Margolis has details.
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KATY CLARK: I’m Katy Clark. This is The World. It took a while to count all the votes from last month’s presidential election in Afghanistan. Today, a complete preliminary count was officially unveiled. President Karzai came out on top with over 54% of the ballots cast. Normally that would be enough to declare Karzai the winner after the first round of voting, but the results have not been finalized because of persistent voting fraud allegations. Today, observers from the European Union added their voice of concern. They’re questioning the validity of more than a quarter of all the votes cast. The World’s Jason Margolis has more.
JASON MARGOLIS: There were almost six million votes cast in Afghanistan’s election. According to European Union observers, one million votes registered for Afghan President Hamid Karzai are suspect. And the second place challenger, Abdollah Abdollah, was allocated roughly 300,000 suspicious votes. These huge numbers of irregularities led the head of the EU observer mission, Phillipe Morillon to declare today.
PHILIPPE MORILLON: Any claim from any camp for any victory will not be credible.
MARGOLIS: The international community has invested a lot of financial security and political capital into Afghanistan’s election. Election administration alone has cost some $220 million. That’s a lot of money to pay for what could turn out to be a sham election. But let’s keep things in perspective says Brian Katulis who was an election observer in Afghanistan and is a senior fellow at the Washington-based Center for American Progress.
BRIAN KATULIS: In transition elections in countries that are in early political transition like Afghanistan, it’s not uncommon to have irregularities and instances of fraud. And I still think it’s a bit early to cast judgment on this because a lot depends on how not only the Independent Election Commission but the Electoral Complaints Commission, two key institutions in Afghanistan, deals with these allegations.
MARGOLIS: President Karzai’s office issued a statement today calling the new vote fraud allegations partial, irresponsible and in contradiction with Afghanistan’s constitution. Karzai’s campaign manager said that the election had some shortcomings but was a “success for the entire population.” If Karzai declares outright victory amidst so much election uncertainty that makes U.S. strategy more difficult says Brian Katulis.
KATULIS: If you don’t have leaders who are seen as actually holding power with legitimacy in their own country, it really creates a weak foundation for building an overall Afghanistan policy.
MARGOLIS: In Washington, Congressional Democrats are calling for accelerated efforts to train and equip more Afghan security forces before more American troops are committed to Afghanistan. Yesterday in Congress, the nation’s top military commander pushed back. Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, asked for more U.S. forces, more time, and more commitment for protecting the Afghan people. President Obama weighed in on the debate this afternoon.
PRESIDENT OBAMA: There is no immediate decision pending on resources because one of the things that I’m absolutely clear about is you have to get the strategy right, and then make determination about resources. You don’t make determinations about resources, and certainly you don’t make determinations about sending young men and women into battle without having absolute clarity about what the strategy is going to be.
MARGOLIS: The disputed election in Afghanistan will likely make the debate over U.S. troop levels more complicated. But Hardin Lang with the Center for Strategic and International Studies says military matters are being kept separate from Afghan politics.
HARDIN LANG: I think that Admiral Mullen is probably right to ask for some additional troops if that’s what the commanders in the field feel that they need, particularly as that we’re just beginning to start or pivot into a new strategy that’s focused on protecting the population. But to do so, until we have credible interlocutors in Kabul, and if that’s going to be in question for some time, I think we all need to take a breath and step back.
MARGOLIS: Overall, western officials seem split over how much control to exert over Afghanistan’s election. This week, American diplomat Peter Galbraith, the number two man at the United Nations mission in Afghanistan, abruptly left Kabul. He wants the U.N. to take a more assertive stance against the Afghan government. The head of the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, downplayed any internal dispute. But he said it’s tremendously important to respect Afghanistan’s constitution and avoid any impression of foreign interference. For The World, I’m Jason Margolis.
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