Despite threats of violence, the Presidential Elections in Afghanistan proceeded largely peacefully. UN and NATO characterize polling day as a success.
The security of the voters, polling staff, and polling facilities was the top priority of the Independent Election Commission for the Presidential Elections on August 20th. Threats had been raised by the Taliban that they would kill all Afghans who showed up to vote. The IEC had worked closely with the Afghan army and the NATO-forces to ensure that the Afghan people could cast their vote without endangering themselves.
Read the press statement of the IEC spokesperson Mr. Noor Mohammad Noor here:
http://www.iec.org.af/assets/pdf/pressrelease/final_preparation_2009_election19%2008%202009.pdf
About 300 000 troops from the Afghan army and NATO were deployed arund the country to help secure voters and polling stations. A representative for NATO, Brigadier General Damian Cantwell, stated to CNN two days before the elections that they expected a large voter turnout, and that their goal was to provide security for 85 to 90 percent of the voters.
Read the article on CNN’s website here:
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/08/18/afghanistan.elections.security/index.html
Accoring to IEC, 6199 of the earlier cleared 6519 polling centres opened on schedule at 7 am on polling day August 20th. That constitutes 95 percent of the total polling centres. In a press statement, Mr. Noor said he was pleased ”that the people of Afghanistan are very enthusiastically going to the polling stations and casting their votes for the prosperity of the future of Afghanistan”.
Read the press statement of the IEC spokesperson Mr. Noor Mohammad Noor here:
http://www.iec.org.af/assets/pdf/pressrelease/90_percent_opening_polling_centers20%2008%202009.pdf
After a slow start, the polling stations could report of a steady influx, and in some areas, the polling stations stayed up late to accomodate all the voters. After the polling stations had closed, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a press statement congratulating the women and men of Afghanistan on the elections. The Secretary-General noted that ”by exercising their constitutional right to vote, the Afghan people have demonstrated again their desire for stability and development in their country”.
The Secretary-General also commended the IEC, and all other Afghan institutions and international stakeholders supporting the electoral process for organizing the elections in ”an extremely challenging environment”.
Read the press statement of the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon here:
http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/sgsm12422.doc.htm
The UN Special representative to Afghanistan, Mr. Kai Eide, was also pleased with the way the elections had taken place around the country, and called it an achievement for the Afghan people. ”Overall, the security situation has been better than we feared. That is certainly the most positive aspect of the election”, Mr. Eide stated.
Read the article on UN’s website here:
http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=31813&Cr=afghan&Cr1=
Also NATO’s Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen expressed that he was pleased about the way the elections had been accomplished. He praised the Afghan people for the courage they had shown by voting in spite of what he called ”challenging circumstances”, referring to the threat from the Taliban to kill Afghans who vote.
”Seen from a security point of view, the elections have been a success, not least thanks to the efforts of the Afghan National Security Forces. They have led the security efforts and they should be applauded. They have done everything possible to make these elections as secure and as inclusive as possible”, Fogh Rasmussen stated.
Hear NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen’ statement here:
http://www.nato.int/nato_static/assets/audio/audio_2009_08/20090820_090820a-stat-afgh-elec.mp3
Unofficial results indicate that president Hamid Karzai and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah dominated vote counts in the capital, reports the Afghan independent news agency Pajhwok. Abdullah is among many considered Karzai’s main contestant for the presidency. Election officials have stated that the preliminary results will be ready after the weekend, but it is expected to take about a month before all the votes have been counted.
Read the article on Pajhwok’s website here:
http://www.pajhwokelections.af/viewstory.php?storyid=500
Out of a population of 28,5 million, approximately 17 million Afghans are registered voters. To ensure the transparency of the election, IEC had accredited 21 domestic observer groups, 30 international observer organizations, 51 national media organizations, 149 international media houses, and 31 political parties. In total 271 390 domestic and international observers, agents and reporters were issued observer’s badges.
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