Afghan Election Chief Asks Karzai, Abdullah to Halt Win Claims

Aug. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Afghanistans top election officer called on President Hamid Karzai and his main challenger, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, to stop making claims that they are leading in this weeks presidential election.

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The dispute risks undermining public confidence in the Aug. 20 vote, Election Commission Director Daoud Ali Najafi said. Reports indicated a lower turnout than officials had hoped for, and the competing claims may undercut the U.S. and allied governments goal of a clear mandate to buttress the next Afghan administration as it fights Taliban militants.

These results being announced by different sources are not reliable ones, Najafi told reporters in Kabul. The candidates should wait for the official results, the first of which will be released on Aug. 25, he said.

The European Commission, which is monitoring the vote, urged all the candidates to respect the electoral process and refrain from premature announcements on possible outcomes, according to a statement. Monitors said a public argument about results may increase a risk of eventual street clashes.

A Karzai spokesman, Sediq Seddiqui, said initial figures from the count show that President Karzai is in the lead and we are sure that he will win. He stopped short of declaring victory, saying we will have to wait for the official count and announcement of the election commission.

Competing Claim

Abdullahs camp countered the claim. Abdullah is far ahead in the vote count in 17 provinces out of 34, a spokesman, Fazl Sangcharaki, said in a telephone interview. He has about 60 percent of the vote, and we believe he is going to win.

Abdullahs team is lodging dozens of complaints of fraud, said Sangcharaki, alleging that campaign agents were barred from some polling stations and that local officials in Karzais ethnic Pashtun stronghold in the south sometimes directed people to vote for him. Other top rivals to Karzai, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani and ex-Planning Minister Ramazan Bashardost, also alleged a pattern of fraud.

Complaints will be investigated by a commission consisting of two Afghan members and three from other countries.

Najafi dismissed statements by his deputy, Zekriya Barakzai, that turnout in the vote was between 40 percent and 50 percent, down from 70 percent five years ago. He said no credible estimate of voter participation was yet available.

Better Government

Any hope of eventually defeating Islamic militancy in Afghanistan will require an Afghan government that better meets its peoples aspirations, said Marvin Weinbaum, a specialist on the region at the Middle East Institute in Washington. Weinbaum, who monitored the voting for the Washington-based elections organization Democracy International Inc., said fraud charges and candidates disputes undermine the election as a tool to strengthen the government.

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