Central and South Asia

Afghan run-off vote

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Election officials in Afghanistan are scrambling to prepare for a presidential run-off vote there scheduled for November 7. A lot of questions remain about whether they can pull it off in such a short amount of time, and whether this election will be any freer of fraud than the first one back in August. The World’s Katy Clark reports.

• BBC coverage
• Marco Werman’s interview with Karzai spokesman Waheed Omer
• Marco Werman’s interview with Dr Abdullah

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MARCO WERMAN: I’m Marco Werman and this is The World. A day after Afghanistan’s president agreed to runoff, election officials are scrambling to make it happen. The runoff is scheduled for November 7^th – about two weeks away. The UN mission there has already started to replace some 200 election officials accused of corruption. It’s hoping to quite concerns that the same widespread fraud that marred the August election could happen again. The World’s Katy Clark has more.

KATY CLARK: The UN special envoy in Afghanistan, Kai Eide said today that firing the officials who were implicated in fraud in the first round of voting is an encouraging step.

KAI EIDE: If we also reduce the number of polling centers and remove some of those that we know that fraud took place then I think we are in a bit better position than we were. But let us not be under any illusions. We cannot make any dramatic changes in the course of two weeks.

CLARK: But scheduling the election any later would also be problematic. Fall snow is expected to render much of the north of the country inaccessible by early November. A resurge in Taliban could also discourage many voters who risked their lives to go to the poles in August from pushing their luck a second time. During the first round of voting insurgents staged dozens of attacks that left 26 people dead. Presidential challenger Abdullah Abdullah says stronger measures are needed this time around to prevent both fraud and voter intimidation.

ABDULLAH ABDULLAH: When the people of Afghanistan participate in the elections, and hopefully in bigger numbers, they are taking a risk in some parts of the country. And they should be confident that that risk is worthwhile taking once again.

CLARK: Incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, has pledged to provide maximum security for the November 7^th election. Karzai only agreed to a second round of voting after a UN-led fraud inquiry tossed out enough of his first round votes to deny him the 50% majority. Glenn Cowan, of the US-based firm Democracy International will lead a team of international election observers in Afghanistan during the runoff. There will be fewer observers on the ground this time around. But Cowan says they’ll be better prepared to spot ballot stuffing and other irregularities.

GLENN COWAN: We know precisely where to look because we know the exact polling centers in the first round at which this occurred. We also know the level of the fraud that was committed and the variety and types. So there’s a lot of forewarning.

CLARK: But in the end few expect this election to be anywhere near perfect by western democratic standards. Cowan says that’s okay.

COWAN: Nevertheless there is a certain irreducible standard that has to be met before credibility is granted to leaders. And that credibility really has to come from the Afghan voters themselves.

CLARK: They have to believe their vote counts and that the person who’s declared the winner actually won. But former Afghan presidential hopeful, Ashraf Ghani, says the key to legitimacy is not going to be the election itself but what comes next.

AHRAF GHANI: To what extent corruption, mismanagement is addressed, what steps do we take towards restoring Afghan sovereignty; how will detention facilities be handled; and most significantly how will jobs be created for a population where 70% of the population’s under 30.

CLARK: For The World this is Katy Clark.

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