Posted on 08/17/2009 10:20:05 PM PDT by myknowledge
Afghans vote on Thursday to choose a president for only the second time in history in an election overshadowed by Taliban threats to attack polling centres that could to keep voters away in droves.
Thousands of US and NATO troops pushed into militant strongholds months before polling day but as the election loomed about eight districts were out of government control making voting in those areas unlikely, authorities said.
Incumbent Hamid Karzai has been tipped to hold on to power but an energetic campaign by former finance minister Abdullah Abdullah has boosted the chance of a run-off amid fears that charges of irregularities may lead to protests.
About 300,000 Afghan and foreign security forces - every man available, officials say - will guard between 6,200 and nearly 7,000 polling centres with the final figure depending on security risks, authorities say.
"They have no chances to carry out a big attack," defence ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi has said, referring to Taliban-led militants behind a bloody campaign that has seen record attacks this year.
But the Taliban on Sunday threatened for the first time to attack voting stations, warning Afghans to stay away from the polls.
"This is to inform respected residents that you must not participate in the elections so as not to become a victim of our operations, because we will use new tactics," said one Taliban leaflet distributed in Kandahar city.
The message was reinforced by a massive suicide attack outside NATO headquarters near the US embassy in Kabul on Saturday, which killed seven Afghans and injured almost 100 others.
About 17 million Afghans have registered to vote but low turnout would undermine the election's credibility.
"I will stay at home and not vote, I simply cannot take the risk," said Abdul Satar from Kandahar province.
But others were eager to take part.
"Although Taliban have spread night letters (leaflets) telling people not to vote, we will vote," said a young woman named only Gaity in Kandahar.
"When we vote, the Taliban become weaker and to make Taliban weaker, we will vote."
Karzai's popularity has dwindled in the nearly eight years since he took over the enormous task of introducing democracy to a tribal and illiterate Islamic country shattered after nearly three decades of war.
The internationally backed process led to Afghanistan's first democratic presidential election in 2004, won by Karzai with 55.4 per cent of the vote, with his closest rival managing just 16.3 per cent.
Polls early this year showed public confidence in him had dropped, with rising insecurity and unemployment around 40 per cent chief among complaints.
Forty-one candidates, including two women, will appear on the ballot paper although only a handful are considered contenders and around 10 have said through media they were dropping out in favour of stronger men.
There has been progress since the collapse of the Taliban regime but many people are frustrated: a host of wealthy donors moved in but still most Afghans lack electricity, roads are bad, jobs are scarce and corruption rife.
While Karzai is blamed, he has used his campaign to boast of the development and unity he has brought, telling supporters that if he wins, Afghans "will live a better life than today."
Analysts say if Karzai does secure another term, it would be less to do with campaigning than deals struck with ethnic, religious and regional strongmen bringing legions of supporters.
Already on board are, from the Tajiks, notorious warlord and alleged human rights abuser Mohammed Qasim Fahim, Karzai's choice for first vice president. And from the Hazara minority there is warlord Karim Khalili, second vice president.
Others to have declared for him include feared Uzbek military commander Abdul Rashid Dostum, who returned to Afghanistan late Sunday from Turkey where he had been based for about a year.
It prompted the United States to express "serious concerns about the prospective role of Mr Dostum in today's Afghanistan and particularly during these historic elections."
Also with Karzai is the leader of the Ismaili sect, Sayed Mansoor Naderi, whose loyal following illustrates that the election is less about the issues and more about allegiances.
"As Sayed Mansoor is our leader and he selected Karzai, we will also vote for him," said Ismaili Abdul Shafiq, 32, in the northern province of Baghlan.
The pay-offs are unclear, with talk of promises of cabinet seats or provincial governorships.
"If you deal like this, it is not democracy," said Wadir Safi, lecturer in the political sciences and law faculty at Kabul University.
After security, perhaps the biggest challenge for the election is that the electorate is largely illiterate, poor and 80 per cent rural, he said.
"They don't understand the value of their ballot," he said, alleging some were selling their votes for 10 or 20 dollars each.
Voters will be presented with two ballot papers, one for the presidential vote and another for councils for each of the 34 provinces.
Although the Taliban is not ruling Afghanistan like they were for five years under their barbaric 7th century moon cult, do you think Afghans will still be better off under Karzai or will there be another seven years of corruption?
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