Abdullah concerned about widespread fraud in Afghan runoff (Roundup)

Oct 21, 2009, 14:42 GMT

Kabul - The top challenger in Afghanistan's disputed August presidential election, Abdullah Abdullah, said Wednesday that his team will set certain conditions 'to avoid widespread fraud' in the November 7 runoff.

The August 20 presidential election, which was marred by thousands of fraud allegations, went to a runoff vote after a UN-backed fraud investigation stripped President Hamid Karzai of around 1 million votes, or a third of all ballots cast for him during the elections.

After days of intense talks and mounting pressure by his government's Western allies, Karzai - who was declared the outright winner in the preliminary results - accepted the runoff with Abdullah. The Independent Elections Commission announced that his share of vote had fallen below 50 per cent in the revised results.

In his first remarks since the final results were announced, Abdullah said that ensuring security for voters and transparency of the second round of balloting should be top priority.

'We have certain suggestions, recommendations and conditions in order to avoid widespread fraud in the upcoming elections,' Abdullah told reporters at his home in Kabul.

He did not provide details, but Abdullah previously accused IEC top members, who were appointed by Karzai, of siding with the incumbent and co-engineering the fraud in the August election.

Azizullah Ludin, chairman of IEC in a press conference on Wednesday rejected allegations that he had a partial role in the elections, saying, 'It is natural in every country that when one loses, he blames others far.'

He also said that the commission had enough budget and election materials to conduct the votes on time, adding that the body would start dispatching voting ballots to country 34 provinces on Thursday.

In order to avoid a repeat of vote-rigging in the runoff, the UN said that more than half of the vote coordinators had been dismissed and new employees were being recruited.

UN spokesman Aleem Siddique said that 200 field coordinators were replaced after observers and candidates filed complaints about their role during the first round.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon also said on Tuesday in New York that the world body, which is mandated to help with the election, would work to avoid irregularities in the November vote.

'We have learned very valuable, painful lessons from the first round,' Ban said.

Ludin also vowed to fire those IEC staff involved in vote-rigging during the first round if enough evidence was found against them, while he said some others would be even prosecuted.

Ludin was speaking in a press conference that announced the final figures for each of 31 candidates, who ran in the first round. The final results elevated Abdullah's percentage from 28 to 30.59 per cent after around one million votes were discounted from Karzai's tally.

Karzai's decision to accept the outcome of the tainted elections met with praise from world leaders, including US President Barack Obama, who called the announcement an 'important precedent' that would help bring credibility to the electoral process.

Abdullah also thanked president Karzai on Wednesday for his decision and said, 'Yesterday's announcement of election results once again strengthened our people's confidence for the election process.'

Both Karzai and Abdullah are said to have been under intense pressure by Western leaders, who have more than 100,000 troops fighting the resurgent Taliban eight years since the fall of their regime in Afghanistan.

Officials said Western diplomats tried without success to persuade Karzai and Abdullah to form a coalition government and end two months of political uncertainty.

'I am not under any pressure from any side. I am not under pressure from the international community side,' Abdullah said, adding, 'The solution for this country is not forming a coalition government.'

Karzai also rejected the idea of sharing power.

During the upcoming polls, security will remain the top challenge in country's southern and eastern regions, where Taliban are most active, and where less people voted in those provinces in the first round compared to other parts of the country.

Afghan defence ministry said Wednesday in a statement that the Afghan security forces backed by NATO troops were in better position than during the August elections, owing to recent joint military operations that pushed the militants from several areas in the country.