Afghan officials move to deal with protests

Election organisers are creating an independent panel to investigate whether Afghanistan’s first-ever presidential vote was marred by fraud, hoping to end an opposition boycott that could seriously undermine the winner’s ability to rule this war-ravaged nation.

International officials and the man heavily favoured to win the election - US-backed interim President Hamid Karzai – are urging all of the 15 other candidates to accept the outcome of the weekend election despite claims that the ink marks used to prevent multiple voting were flawed.

At least two of the candidates backed away from the boycott by today, while some observers said the complaints over the ink were being raised by candidates as an excuse for why they were likely to lose.

Boxes of ballots from Saturday’s election, some arriving by mule, were not expected to finish reaching counting centres until at least tomorrow. UN officials said vote-tallying might not start for another three or four days. Final results were not expected until the end of October.

The weekend voting came off without the major bloodshed threatened by Taliban militants, and electoral officials said turnout looked extremely high – a victory in itself in a nation with no experience at direct elections.

Poll organisers decided yesterday they would form an independent commission of about three foreign election experts to investigate the weekend balloting.

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

The opposition complaint is focused on allegations that the supposedly indelible ink used to mark voters’ thumbs in some polling stations could be rubbed off, allowing some people to vote more than once.

International election observers said the complaint did not justify nullifying the vote.

The US International Republican Institute accused challengers of trying to make up excuses for their likely losses.

Even though Western officials gave the vote the thumbs up, a successful democracy needs an opposition that accepts election results. Karzai’s ability to unite the nation, fight warlords and crush the Taliban insurgency might be undermined if his opponents refuse to recognise the vote.