Commission to probe Afghan election complaints

An independent commission will probe claims by all 15 opposition candidates that Afghanistan’s first direct presidential election was marred by incompetence and fraud, a top official said today in an attempt to quash claims the vote was illegitimate.

The announcement came as election workers began the long process of collecting and tallying the votes from yesterday’s historic polls.

Some of the 15 protesting candidates said they wanted a commission to rule on whether the election was fair and indicated they would accept its decision. A few hours later, their demand appeared to have been met.

“There is going to be an independent commission made to investigate it,” said electoral director Farooq Wardak. ”There could be mistakes, we are just human beings. My colleagues might have made a mistake.”

He went on to say that “some people might have intentionally tried to defame the process,” but did not elaborate.

There was no immediate reaction from the 15 candidates as to whether they would respect the investigation, though two of them earlier indicated they were dropping their boycott, and US Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad and others were reportedly meeting behind closed doors with many of those involved.

What was supposed to be a historic day in this war-ravaged nation turned sour hours after voting started when the 15 accused the government and the United Nations of fraud and incompetence over faulty ink used to mark voters’ thumbs.

The complaint drew criticism from international electoral observers.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe said in a statement that the demand to nullify the poll was “unjustified”.

The US International Republican Institute said the ballot had been “a triumph” and accused the 15 of trying to make up excuses for why they were likely to lose.

Electoral officials said turnout looked extremely high – a victory in itself in a nation with no experience at direct elections.

On Sunday, ballots were being brought to eight centres around the country, where they were being readied for counting. Actual tabulating of the results was not expected to start until Monday. Very early results could emerge a day or so later.

“I don’t think we will see a trend as to who is leading for about a week,” said electoral spokesman Aykut Tavsel. He said a final result could take until October 30.

At a counting centre on Kabul’s outskirts, sealed bags of votes were brought in from surrounding areas and were being sorted by dozens of workers.

In Mazar-e-Sharif, election officials said today they had not yet received ballots that were supposed to be flowing in from five northern provinces. They said it could take until Tuesday or Wednesday for the ballots to arrive and counting to begin in earnest.

Taliban threats to disrupt the vote with a massive attack never materialised.

The rebels managed a smattering of deadly assaults around the country, but they themselves took the biggest hit, losing 25 men in a clash with US and Afghan forces in the south.

Lt Gen David Barno, the top US commander in Afghanistan, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that the election could sound the rebels’ death knell.

“The Taliban basically didn’t show. They had very limited attacks,” he said. “Yesterday was a huge defeat for the Taliban.”

“I think the election and political process will fracture the Taliban and they will eventually look for ways to reconcile with the government that comes in,” he said.

In the end, faulty ink – not bombs and bullets – threatened three years of painstaking progress toward democracy. Opposition candidates claimed the ink used to mark voters’ thumbs rubbed off too easily, allowing multiple voting.

Electoral officials rejected demands that voting be stopped at midday yesterday, saying it would rob millions of people of their first chance to directly decide their leader.

Khalilzad said: “The Afghan nation has spoken – it has voted for democracy and freedom.”

Still, a successful democracy needs an opposition that accepts election results. Even if the vote is validated, interim leader Hamid Karzai’s ability to unite the nation, fight rampant warlordism and crush the Taliban insurgency might be fatally compromised if his opponents refuse to recognise the vote’s legitimacy.

Karzai – widely favoured to win – said “the election was free and fair”.

On Sunday, ethnic Hazara candidate Mohammed Mohaqeq, who was part of the boycott, said an electoral commission should be formed to examine the vote. But he later suggested he would drop his protest.

“To boycott and to criticise are two different things. Their position is to boycott. My position is to criticise,” he told reporters outside a mosque where he had come to pray.

Another candidate, Massooda Jalal, also indicated she might accept a commission.

The opposition protest was a blow to the international community, which spent £110 million on the vote. At least 12 election workers and dozens of Afghan security forces died in the past few months in the run-up for the election.

But the candidates’ boycott was largely ignored by officials in Washington, which funded much of the election. US President George Bush called the vote a “marvellous thing.”

About 10.5 million registration cards were handed out for the election, a staggering number that UN and Afghan officials say was inflated by widespread double registration. Organisers had argued that the indelible ink would prevent people from voting twice.