2008 Woodie Awards
Afghan Election or Afghan Selection?
An Afghan student shares his perspective of democracy's tumultuous process.
Zabie Mansoory
Issue date: 11/3/04 Section: Opinion
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Afghanistan's first presidential election in October was mostly free of the threatened violence by the Taliban who hoped to disrupt it. But it wasn't free of fraud, even though President Bush called it a victory.
A native Afghan myself, I kept an eye on Afghanistan's election wondering who would lead my home country. While reading the news I started to question this election after all 15 candidates opposing U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai withdrew in the middle of voting, charging the government and the United Nations with fraud and incompetence.
The 15 candidates said they will challenge the results of the election.
"There is going to be an independent commission made to investigate it. There could be mistakes; we are just human beings," said electoral director, Farooq Wardak. "My colleagues might have made a mistake."
Karzai, who was appointed by the United States to rule the country following Sept. 11 - after overthrowing the Taliban government - said, "Who is more important, these 15 candidates or the millions of people who turned out today to vote? Both myself and all these candidates should respect our people because in the dust and snow and rain, they waited for hours and hours to vote."
So what was the problem?
According to British Broadcasting Corporation news reports, there were several irregularities in the process.
The ink given by Karzai's government for fingerprinting was fake ink. In some cases the poll workers used markers to get people's fingerprint. Also, poll workers were asking people to vote for Karzai.
"There is fraud taking place in the elections, planned fraud and organized fraud," Massooda Jala, Afghanistan's only female candidate, said. "Everyone knows that."
Organized fraud? That sounds similar to what happened in Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
Let's see, Karzai was the Bush Administration's choice and we know for a fact that the United States spent millions of dollars there. Would you do something to make sure your investment wins?
Absolutely. Who wouldn't?
The results were released last week. Unsurprisingly, the majority was won by U.S.-backed Hamid Karzai.
Now, we'll just have to wait and see how long he's able to hold on to the position.
A native Afghan myself, I kept an eye on Afghanistan's election wondering who would lead my home country. While reading the news I started to question this election after all 15 candidates opposing U.S.-backed interim President Hamid Karzai withdrew in the middle of voting, charging the government and the United Nations with fraud and incompetence.
The 15 candidates said they will challenge the results of the election.
"There is going to be an independent commission made to investigate it. There could be mistakes; we are just human beings," said electoral director, Farooq Wardak. "My colleagues might have made a mistake."
Karzai, who was appointed by the United States to rule the country following Sept. 11 - after overthrowing the Taliban government - said, "Who is more important, these 15 candidates or the millions of people who turned out today to vote? Both myself and all these candidates should respect our people because in the dust and snow and rain, they waited for hours and hours to vote."
So what was the problem?
According to British Broadcasting Corporation news reports, there were several irregularities in the process.
The ink given by Karzai's government for fingerprinting was fake ink. In some cases the poll workers used markers to get people's fingerprint. Also, poll workers were asking people to vote for Karzai.
"There is fraud taking place in the elections, planned fraud and organized fraud," Massooda Jala, Afghanistan's only female candidate, said. "Everyone knows that."
Organized fraud? That sounds similar to what happened in Florida in the 2000 presidential election.
Let's see, Karzai was the Bush Administration's choice and we know for a fact that the United States spent millions of dollars there. Would you do something to make sure your investment wins?
Absolutely. Who wouldn't?
The results were released last week. Unsurprisingly, the majority was won by U.S.-backed Hamid Karzai.
Now, we'll just have to wait and see how long he's able to hold on to the position.
