Warlords faring well in Afghan election

COUNTING is nearly complete in landmark Afghan legislative polls, with warlords and opponents of President Hamid Karzai faring relatively well, but women could hold the balance of power in the new national assembly.

Audits still have to be completed in some provinces and final provisional results will be released only slowly in coming days while suspicion of ballot stuffing and other fraud at more than 1,000 of nearly 27,000 polling stations are checked.

Final provisional results were expected from at least two provinces yesterday, a day later than planned due to Tuesday’s holiday for the start of Ramadan, the Muslim fasting month.

Final results from the September 18 vote, which also chose provincial councils, are due by October 22, after complaints are resolved.

Partial provisional results suggest Mr Karzai’s male opponents may have an edge over his male backers, but 68 assembly seats reserved for women could mean they hold the balance of power. There are a total of 249 seats in the assembly.

Dozens of factional officials, dubbed warlords by critics, appear headed for seats, as well as at least one former Taliban commander.

Prominent among factional commanders is Shi’ite Muslim leader Haji Mohammmad Mohaqiq, who has been heading the closely watched race for one of Kabul’s 33 seats.

Like some rivals, Mr Mohaqiq has been linked by rights groups to atrocities during Afghanistan’s long civil war.

The presence of such figures on the ballot has been cited by analysts and poll observers as one of the reasons for the lower turnout in the polls compared with October’s presidential vote.

Self-styled opposition leader Yunus Qanuni appears certain of a seat, but might be disappointed to be lagging in second place in Kabul after being trounced by Mr Karzai in the presidential race.

Mr Qanuni said before the polls he expected supporters of his opposition Understanding Front to win half of the 249 assembly seats.

The main foreign election observer mission, from the European Union, last week highlighted “worrying” cases of cheating, having initially declared that the vote had appeared generally well run.

Some poll observers have expressed concern that fraud, if not properly dealt with, could mean warlords gain disproportionate representation, which could allow them to block efforts to account for war crimes and crimes against humanity.