|
|
 |
  |
| Sunday, 10 October 2004 |
 |
|
 |
World |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
|
Afghans defy threats to vote Enthusiastic voters defied threats of violence to turn out for Afghanistan's first direct presidential elections Saturday, raising hopes for an end to 25 years of conflict in the shattered country. Queues formed early at polling stations as voters expressed their delight at being allowed to directly choose their own leader for the first time, and said they wanted to put the war and turmoil behind them. Around 100,000 armed security personnel, including 27,000 foreign troops from a US-led coalition and NATO, have been deployed to protect the more than 10 million registered voters. They are selecting a president from a total of 18 candidates, with US-backed incumbent President Hamid Karzai widely tipped to win. The vote is a milestone in Afghanistan's road to recovery after more than two decades of drought and war capped by five years of harsh rule by the Taliban Islamic fundamentalist militia, which gave sanctuary to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda network. In Kabul, about 30 people were waiting outside a mosque in the Noman Abn Sadeeq Microrayon district when the polls opened. Unemployed Hayam Udin, 50, told AFP: "I came here to elect my president on my own. The election marks the end of warlords and wars in my country." He said he would vote for Karzai, 46, who was first elected by a council of tribal leaders in June 2002. However, an early problem arose when it was discovered that the ink used to prevent voters casting more than one ballot could be removed at some polling stations. "The ink which they are putting on the fingers is removable," said Sayed Ajmal Bashti, an observer from the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan. Teacher Sayed Omar, 54, who had just cast his vote, removed the ink on his finger in front of an AFP reporter. Senior election official Farooq Wardak promised an investigation. "I am very worried about this. People can vote twice if they have several registration cards," he said. In the southern city of Kandahar, a queue of about 200 voters - all men except for about seven women - wrapped themselves in cloaks as they huddled against the early morning cold at the polling station at the governor's residence. "This is the most important day in the history of Afghanistan. Today we have the golden chance to vote that we have been waiting for for so long," said 55-year-old Haji Abdul Salaam. In a part of the country where women remain particularly subservient to men, there were 43 polling booths for males and five for females. In the western city of Herat, roughly equal queues of men and women waited to cast their ballots at the Takiy school polling station. Early results could be announced within days, but a final result could take several weeks. If a single candidate fails to win more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off election will be called. Former education minister and prominent anti-Taliban fighter Yunus Qanooni, 47, is seen as Karzai's only serious challenger. |
|
| News | Business | Features
| Editorial | Security
| Produced by Lake House |
