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Diplomatic blunders behind Afghan vote chaos

By Chris Otton

THE 10 weeks of chaos that dogged Afghanistan’s tumultuous election were accompanied by a string of diplomatic blunders that ended with the scrapping of a run-off imposed on President Hamid Karzai.

The decision to announce that November 7’s run-off would not take place came after UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon flew to Kabul amid a flurry of diplomacy to persuade authorities not to stage a one-horse race. Yet less than two weeks earlier, the UN and United States were at the forefront of international arm-twisting designed to force Karzai into a second round despite his protestations that he won fair and square the first time. “It’s been the biggest mistake by the international community in the last eight years,” said Nasrullah Stanikzai, an analyst at Kabul University.

“There’s been no coordination between the United States and the Europeans... And they don’t have good coordination with the Afghan government.” Karzai was catapulted to power in late 2001 after US-led coalition forces toppled the Taliban. But warm relations between Washington and Kabul have steadily declined, with Karzai humiliated when he was reluctantly forced to announce his participation in the run-off, flanked by US Senator John Kerry and UN envoy Kai Eide. But while diplomats managed to persuade Karzai to stand in a run-off, praising his “statesmanship”, they failed to nail down the participation of Abdullah Abdullah, runner-up in the first round who quit the contest on Sunday. There had been expectations that US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton would fly to Afghanistan over the weekend after a trip to neighbouring Pakistan. But Clinton never made it to Kabul and was in Abu Dhabi by the time Abdullah’s camp was making it clear that their man would not take part.

Asked whether the outcome of a run-off with only one candidate would result in a legitimate government, Clinton appeared unfazed by such a prospect, saying such situations were “not unprecedented” and occur in the United States. But after the election commission decided to scrap the poll, the US embassy in Kabul said it welcomed the cancellation. A European diplomat said the pressure on Karzai to compete in the second round was prompted by a desire to make him acknowledge the large-scale fraud that dogged the first round. However, Karzai was then able to keep the electoral institutions, which oversaw the rigging in August, intact for the second round - prompting Abdullah to conclude the contest would again be tilted against him.

Peter Galbraith, Eide’s deputy until a major fallout after the first round, says it was clear fraud would have played “as large a part in the presidential runoff” as it did in August. But a UN spokesman said the Afghan mission was in a no-win situation and was guided throughout “by a policy of strict adherence to the electoral process”.”When we insisted on a run-off in accordance with the law, we were accused of prolonging the election,” said Adrian Edwards. “Our diplomacy to find legal and peaceful solutions has, we believe, helped Afghanistan in resolving the electoral crisis.”

Haroun Mir, head of Afghanistan’s Centre for Research and Policy Studies, said the UN made a series of mistakes and was guilty of “a lack of management and incompetence”, with Eide failing to tackle concerns about vote-rigging. “Eide wanted to cover up to show the process was successful,” he told AFP. The sight of Karzai announcing the run-off alongside Kerry and Eide also reinforced the perception in Afghanistan that the president was taking his orders from foreign powers. Faheem Dashty, editor of The Kabul Weekly, said such an overt display of influence was unfortunate. “For a young democracy such as ours, there is a need sometimes for pressure,” he told AFP. “But when the pressure is so public and open, this gives a very negative impression to the people of Afghanistan that we are not independent.” afp

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