KABUL: Afghanistan’s election authorities will soon announce the final line-up of candidates for next year’s presidential election, with some disqualified nominees hoping to make it back onto the list.
The bulk of Nato’s 75,000 troops are due to pull out of Afghanistan by the end of 2014 and a credible election — rather than a repeat of the fraud-plagued vote of 2009 — is seen as vital to stability in Afghanistan’s first-ever democratic power transfer.
President Hamid Karzai, who must step down after serving two terms, has called for just two or three candidates to run, to avoid the confusion of 2009, when 40 names appeared on the ballot paper. The election committee has already whittled the initial 26 candidates for the April 5 vote down to 10, but some of those already ruled out are seeking to return to the list.
Some voters have voiced disillusionment that the field is dominated by former warlords, veteran politicians and establishment insiders.
The final line-up is due to be published today, but a spokesman for the Independent Electoral Complaints Commission, the Afghan electoral watchdog, said it was still being worked on and could be delayed. Around 600 complaints have been filed against presidential and provincial candidates, he said, and there is still time for nominees struck off the preliminary list to return.
Under Afghan election law, presidential hopefuls must be aged at least 40, have a clean criminal record, not be a citizen of another country, provide 100,000 voter cards to prove they have a network of supporters, and lodge a deposit of one million Afghanis ($18,000).
There was bitterness among the candidates rejected from the initial list.
Khadija Ghaznawi, the only female candidate, who was disqualified for not being able to provide enough voter cards, said the election commission was not acting independently.
A group of around 10 disqualified candidates has formed a coalition to try to get back on the list, though none is seen as a serious contender.
Some unexpected pairings have emerged, including the intellectual Ghani, an internationally-renowned academic, who chose Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum as his first running mate. Ghani said his choice of running mate was a matter of necessity, capitalising on Dostum’s popularity, rather than shared ideology.
Analyst Ahmad Saeedi said such marriages of convenience could spell trouble down the line.
Overshadowing the announcement of election candidates is next week’s “loya jirga” or grand assembly of tribal elders, which will decide on a crucial security pact with the United States. If the agreement is passed, between 5,000 and 10,000 US troops will stay in Afghanistan to help fight Al Qaeda remnants and train the national army.
There are fears that if a deal is not reached in Afghanistan -- and the legal status of US forces has been a major sticking point -- all American troops will pull out and local forces will struggle to contain the Taliban.
AFP
