Abdullah threatens to reject Afghan election result

KABUL: Afghanistan’s election crisis deepened Thursday when presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said he would reject the result because his claims of massive fraud have failed to stop the ongoing vote count.

Abdullah´s complaints about alleged fraud in Saturday´s run-off election have thrown the country´s first democratic transfer of power into turmoil ahead of preliminary results due out on July 2.

A smooth election was seen as a key benchmark of Afghan progress by the US-led coalition that has fought against insurgents and donated billions of dollars in aid since 2001 when the Taliban regime was ousted.

But the dispute could trigger instability as NATO combat troops withdraw by the end of the year.

"From now onwards, since (the election authorities) have not responded to our legitimate demands... everything they do and the result of their activities will not be accepted by us," Abdullah told reporters.

Referring to the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and Election Complaints Commission (ECC), he said: "We will not consider these two institutions as legitimate."

Abdullah had demanded an immediate stop to the vote count and the sacking of Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, head of the IEC secretariat, over Amarkhail´s alleged attempt to remove unused ballots from the IEC headquarters on polling day.

But the IEC refused his demands, saying it would stick to the schedule in an election that will choose a new president after Hamid Karzai´s 13-year reign.

In a strong statement late Wednesday, the UN mission had described Abdullah´s earlier decision to suspend cooperation with the IEC as "regrettable".

The UN warned that if candidates "abandon the legal process and framework and appeal directly to supporters (it) could incite violence".

"Some people have already called for civil disobedience and some incidents have already taken place," the UN said, calling for the electoral timetable to be followed.

Abdullah took on Ashraf Ghani in the run-off vote after the two came first and second in an eight-man election on April 5, when Abdullah was well ahead with 45 percent against Ghani´s 31.6 percent. (AFP)

Abdullah, Ghani both allege fraud in Afghan election

KABUL: A roadside bomb killed 11 people including five election workers in northern Afghanistan, officials said Sunday, as a prolonged vote count began after the presidential run-off election.

Election officials were sifting through fraud complaints from both candidates, and analysts said the lengthy count could be the trickiest phase in the country´s first democratic transfer of power.

More than 50 people were killed on polling day Saturday by militant attacks, including the 11 whose bus was hit by a roadside bomb in Samangan province and five members of one family who died when a Taliban rocket hit a house near a polling station.

Eleven voters in the western province of Herat had their fingers -- which were dipped in ink to register their ballot -- cut off by insurgents, Deputy Interior Minister Ayoub Salangi said.

But despite the Taliban attacks, Saturday´s election drew a high turnout of about seven million voters in a contest between former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani.

The White House praised voters´ courage and called the elections "a significant step forward on Afghanistan´s democratic path". The US, along with the UN, also urged the two candidates not to trade unproven fraud allegations, but both Abdullah and Ghani raised the issue immediately after polls closed.

"It is win or lose now," said Kate Clark, director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network. "The voting is only one phase of the election, and there is still a lot that could change. Being a good loser doesn´t gain you much here. "If it is close and fraud looks to have been a lot, and either candidate wants to really make a fuss, then we could be in for months of wrangling.

"The 2009 election, when outgoing President Hamid Karzai retained power, was marred by massive fraud that shook the US-led international effort to develop Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

A credible election and smooth handover of power would be a major achievement for Afghanistan´s backers after 13 years of hugely costly military and civilian assistance. All foreign combat troops are due to withdraw by the end of this year.

"Allegations of fraud need to be addressed," US ambassador James Cunningham said after polls closed on Saturday. "But the candidates and their supporters should refrain from premature judgements and from criticism that is not supported with clear evidence."

The preliminary result is due on July 2, before the complaints period begins, and the final result is scheduled for July 22.

"We have urged the candidates to act as statesmen, future presidents, rather than people simply in a competition with each other," said Nicholas Haysom, the deputy chief of the UN mission. Reflecting international fears of a contested result, he said candidates must "exercise patience" as the count got underway.

The Electoral Complaints Commission said it had registered about 275 complaints by Sunday morning. "There were violation cases where the supporters of the presidential candidates forced voters to vote for a certain candidate," said spokesman Mohammad Nader Mohsini. "Supporters were also offering money for voters to vote for a certain candidate. "He said allegations had also been raised of interference by election officials and the security forces.

Ahead of Saturday´s ballot the Taliban threatened to kill voters and officials, saying the election was an American plot "to impose their stooges". The two candidates came top of an eight-man field in the April first-round election, triggering the run-off as neither reached the 50 percent threshold needed for outright victory. Abdullah secured 45 percent of the vote in Aprilo with Ghani on 31.6 percent.

Both candidates swiftly alleged fraud after the closure of the polls."We know there has been fraud, you have seen it, we have seen it," Abdullah said. Ghani called for a full investigation into vote-rigging, saying "unfortunately there were cases of security forces involved in fraud, we have the evidence".

Death toll doubles in attack on Afghanistan´s Abdullah

KABUL: The death toll from two explosions targeting Afghan presidential front-runner Abdullah Abdullah doubled on Saturday, with at least 12 people confirmed dead in an attack that triggered strong international condemnation.

Abdullah survived the assassination attempt on Friday when the blasts, including a suicide bombing, targeted his campaign motorcade in Kabul ahead of next week´s hotly contested run-off election.

It was the second attack on Abdullah during Afghanistan´s fractious election season, which has seen an uptick in violence with Taliban militants threatening to disrupt the polls.

"The casualty toll has increased to 12 people, while a further 40 people, including one woman, were wounded," Sayed Gul Agha Hashemi, head of Kabul police´s criminal investigation branch, told AFP.

Afghan officials on Friday said that six people were killed in the attack. Abdullah himself escaped unhurt but said he had lost three of his campaign workers.

The UN Security Council condemned the attack strongly, calling for an orderly transition to a new government in Afghanistan.

"The members of the Security Council underlined their support for Afghanistan´s democratic processes, and looked forward to the second round of the presidential election," it said in a statement on Friday.

The United States also denounced the attack, saying that "the Afghan people deserve democracy -- which they´ll be exercising next week -- not violence".

No one has thus far claimed responsibility for the assassination attempt but Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt the June 14 run-off election.

"The high number of civilians killed and injured further shows a complete disregard for the lives of ordinary Afghans," said Jan Kubis, head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

"Such an attack on a busy road used by many civilians violates the most basic principles of humanity," he said in a statement.

Afghanistan is in the middle of elections to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled since the fall of the 1996-2001 Taliban regime.

Abdullah fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed for an outright victory in the April first round and will face former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani in the run-off.

Abdullah Abdullah escapes assassination attempt

 

KABUL: Abdullah Abdullah, front-runner in Afghanistan’s presidential election, escaped assassination on Friday when two bombs blew up outside a hotel where he had just staged a rally, killing six people.
The midday blasts, one caused by a suicide bomber, destroyed a car in Abdullah´s convoy, police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said. One of the dead was a bodyguard. Twenty-two people were injured. Television images showed the charred remains of the car alongside shattered shop fronts in a densely populated western district of Kabul.

“When I was leaving the rally from the People’s Islamic Unity Party, our car was hit by a roadside bomb and destroyed,” Abdullah said at another rally soon afterwards. Abdullah, a former leader of the opposition to the Taliban, came first in the largely peaceful first round of the poll to replace Hamid Karzai, winning 45 percent of the vote. Former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani scored 31.6 percent and the run-off between the two leaders is set for June 14. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Abdullah but the Taliban, seeking to set up an Islamic state, have vowed to disrupt the election. They could not be reached by phone.

It was the most serious attempt on Abdullah’s life since the start of the presidential race and the first such attack close to a rally. In February, he survived an assault on his convoy as he was travelling between the capital and the eastern city of Jalalabad. By law, the elections must start again from scratch if one of the candidates is killed. Such an event could place the country in an extremely difficult position just months before the pullout at the end of the year of most foreign forces. The election’s first round won praise as an unexpected success after the Taliban, removed from power in 2001 by a US-led invasion, failed to deter millions of voters from turning out in major cities to vote. The run-off is likely to prove more difficult as the Taliban summer offensive will be in full swing. The number of weekly attacks rose by around 10 percent to more than 350 incidents — including suicide attacks, gun battles and roadside bombs — in the final week of May, according to a Western security firm.

It was unclear whether the attack near the rally represented a change in tactics following the removal of Taliban commander Mullah Abdul Qayoum from the group’s military leadership. The Taliban denied suggestions that Mullah Qayoum had been dismissed for failing to disrupt the first round and said he had stepped down because of longstanding health issues. —Reuters

APP adds from Islamabad: Pakistan on Friday condemned the terrorist attack on the convoy of presidential candidate Dr Abdullah Abdullah in Kabul in which several innocent lives were lost and many were injured.

Foreign Office Spokesperson Tasnim Aslam in a statement said, “Our thoughts and prayers are with the bereaved families.” The spokesperson said we are confident that the people of Afghanistan would defeat any attempt aimed at thwarting their democratic journey and their quest for peace and progress. Pakistan for its part will continue to support all efforts for peaceful elections and democratic transition in Afghanistan, said the spokesperson.

Afghan election front-runner Abdullah escapes assassination attempt

KABUL: Afghan presidential election front-runner Abdullah Abdullah said he had escaped an assassination attempt Friday when an explosion hit his campaign motorcade in Kabul, just days ahead of a hotly-contested run-off election. "A few minutes ago, when we left a campaign rally our convoy was hit by a mine," he told another election rally in quotes broadcast on Afghan television. He added that some of his guards were mildly wounded, while he was unhurt.

The attempt came ahead of the second-round presidential election on June 14, with Taliban insurgents threatening to disrupt the polls.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.

Abdullah fell short of the 50 percent threshold needed for an outright victory in the April first round and will face former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani in the run-off.

"We condemn the attack on respected presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah Abdullah," Ghani said on Twitter.

"This is the act of the enemies of Afghanistan to disrupt the democratic process in the country."

 

Afghan election run-off between Abdullah and Ghani: results

KABUL: Afghanistan´s presidential election is set for a second-round vote, preliminary results showed Saturday, as opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah and former academic Ashraf Ghani both failed to secure a decisive victory.

"Based on our results, it appears that the election goes to the second round," Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani, head of the Independent Election Commission, told a press conference in Kabul.

Abdullah, a former foreign minister, secured 44.9 percent of the vote, with his main rival Ghani on 31.5 percent, according to the preliminary results.

The final official result is set to be announced on May 14 after a period for adjudication of hundreds of complaints over alleged fraud.

As no candidate gained more than 50 percent, a run-off between the two leading names is required under the Afghan constitution.

Nuristani, who announced that the second round would be held on June 7, said nearly seven million people voted in the April 5 election out of an estimated electorate of 13.5 million -- well above the 2009 turnout.Of those who voted, 36 percent were female -- a figure likely to be seen an impressive sign of women´s improving status in Afghanistan, a deeply conservative Muslim country.

The eventual winner will have to oversee the fight against a resilient Taliban insurgency as 51,000 US-led NATO combat troops leave Afghanistan this year, as well as strengthen an economy that relies on declining aid money.

- Disputes over fraud claims? -
Another expensive and potentially violent election could be avoided by negotiations between the candidates in the coming weeks, but Abdullah has dismissed talks of a possible power-sharing deal.

Ghani, a former World Bank economist, has also vowed to fight on in a run-off.Serious fraud allegations are being investigated in the vote to choose a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who has ruled Afghanistan since the Islamist Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.

The 2009 election, when Karzai retained power, was marred by fraud in a chaotic process that shook confidence in the multinational effort to develop Afghanistan and also marked a sharp decline in relations with the United States.

Votes involved in alleged ballot-box stuffing and other cheating have not been counted, and Saturday’s announcement is expected to be followed by fierce debate over disputed voting papers.

Preliminary results were delayed by two days due to fraud investigations, with officials vowing to sift out all suspect votes before they were counted.

Five NATO soldiers died on Saturday in a helicopter crash in the south of the country, officials said, adding that the cause of the incident was being investigated.

Karzai, who is constitutionally barred from serving a third term, has pledged to stay neutral in the election.

But he was widely thought to have backed former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul, who took just 11 percent of the vote.

Rassoul could still play a key role in power-brokering before the next president is chosen, as could former Islamist warlord Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf, who collected a seven percent.

All leading candidates have pledged to explore peace talks with the Taliban and sign a deal with the US that could allow 10,000 US troops to stay on after this year on a training and counter-terrorism mission.

Karzai´s surprise decision to refuse to sign the bilateral security agreement last year after agreeing to the draft text plunged relations between Afghanistan and its biggest donor to a new low.

The outgoing president has had several public disagreements with Washington in recent years, underlining efforts to establish his reputation as an independent, nationalist leader despite relying on US aid and military power during his reign.

Abdullah leading in Afghan polls

 

KABUL: Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah is leading his closest rival Ashraf Ghani in early results from the Afghan presidential election, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said on Sunday, but figures indicate a likely run-off vote.
“Today we announce the partial results of 26 provinces with 10 percent of votes counted, these include (provinces) in the north, south, east, west and Kabul,” said Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, the IEC chief.

“With 500,000 votes from 26 provinces Dr Abdullah is leading with 41.9 percent; Dr Ashraf Ghani has 37.6 percent and is in second place; and Zalmai Rassoul has 9.8 percent in third position.”

Nuristani stressed the figurewas only partial and could change drastically in the coming days, when more partial results would be announced. A run-off election between the two leading candidates will be triggered if no single candidate gains more than 50 percent of the vote when the final results are announced in late May.

But Nuristani cautioned against reading too much into the early results. “These results are changeable. Today one candidate might be leading but when we announce more results another candidate might be leading,” he said.

Of the eight provinces for which results have not been announced, two are in the north (Badakhshan and Baghlan) and two in the east (Nuristan and Paktika). The others are Daykundi in the centre, southern Ghazni and Wardak and the western province of Ghor.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan welcomed the announcement as a “first snapshot that will regularly be updated by the IEC”. “I urge presidential candidates and their supporters to display patience while vote tallying is completed,” said Jan Kubis, UN Special Representative to Afghanistan, in a statement.

Abdullah, who was born to an ethnic Pashtun father and a Tajik mother, is more associated with the northern Tajiks. More than seven million people defied bad weather and Taliban threats of violence to vote in the April 5 first round of the election, earning praise from world leaders.

Ahead of the vote there were fears that a repeat of the massive fraud which, blighted Karzai’s re-election in 2009, would undermine the winner’s legitimacy at a testing time for the war-torn country.

But the Election Complaints Commission announced on Sunday there had been “less fraud” in the current poll. “We have received 1,892 complaints with evidence, (including) 1,382 through phone,” said spokesman Nader Mohseni, adding that 870 of the complaints fell into the most serious category.

“We will review all the complaints. Based on the reviews and numbers provided by the observers there has been less fraud in this election compared to the previous one,” he said.Ghani’s camp was set to hold a press conference later on Sunday to discuss the partial results.

Abdullah, an ophthalmologist by training, came second in the 2009 election to current President Hamid Karzai, in a vote that was internationally denounced as fraudulent. He was a resistance fighter against the Soviet occupation in the 1980s and was a close friend and adviser to Ahmad Shah Massoud, a revered Tajik leader who fought the Taliban during their 1996-2001 rule and was assassinated two days before the September 11, 2011 attacks on the United States.

Ghani is a former World Bank economist and globally renowned intellectual, who has shed some of his wonk image during his current campaign and is more favoured by the country’s majority Pashtuns. Former physician Zalmai Rassoul, another Pashtun, was seen as Karzai’s favourite — a charge that he denied.

All three pre-election favourites have pledged to protect women’s rights, reach out for a peace deal with the Taliban and sign a bilateral security pact with the United States that would allow at least 10,000 troops to stay for the next ten years.