The immediate cries of “Foul” from 15 presidential candidates in yesterday’s Afghanistan elections may well have some foundation in truth. Over and above the irregularities that seem to have taken place with the registration of voters where it is alleged some registered more than once, some distinctly odd features have emerged. One is that the marks in supposedly indelible ink on voters’ thumbs made after they had voted appeared to be easily removable. One voting official protested lamely that it was not the ink that was the problem but the way it had been applied. There is widespread suspicion that interim President Hamid Karzai has used his power to rig the electoral process. The final results will allow observers to assess the degree to which the outcome is convincing.
It is, however, unfortunate that the 15 protesting candidates have made their voices heard so early. This election is important for Afghanistan — not so much because it is the country’s first experiment with democracy but because it provides an important opportunity for Afghans to come together in a single enterprise and begin the break with the factionalism which has bedeviled their history. No one ever imagined that it was going to be easy. The difficult security situation in some parts of the country made many fear that Taleban and Al-Qaeda elements would seek to wreak bloody disruption. The election has apparently gone off with little in the way of the expected violence. In the capital, Kabul, outsider observers reported that Afghans were participating in an orderly fashion and that there was a general air of excitement to the proceedings. Such enthusiasm could, however, be destroyed quickly if the credibility of these elections is cast into serious doubt. If the whole business turns into a discredited mess, The Afghans will retreat to the old loyalties and certainties even if these lie at the heart of most of the country’s past problems. It will be very hard to convince them that another attempt will be worth the effort and trouble.
In this respect, those candidates who believe that they have been victims of an electoral fix must do better than boycott the process because all that can achieve will be confusion and recrimination. The joint UN-Afghan Electoral Commission which organized the election has an obligation to deal justly and fairly with all complaints of irregularities. Where there is good evidence that the electoral process has been seriously abused, it must be possible for results to be appealed on a case-by-case basis. This election will be worth nothing if ordinary Afghans cannot have reasonable confidence in its result. That said, minor irregularities are always going to be inevitable and it would be wrong to try and nitpick every single result. The Afghans must stick together while the final results are sorted out. They must not be encouraged to break ranks by defeated candidates. Perhaps most importantly, the UN must not forget that the success or failure of yesterday’s elections in Afghanistan could have considerable bearing on what happens in January when the Iraqis go to the polls.
