US special envoy meets Herat officials

(NECN/APTV) – The US special envoy to Afghanistan, Richard Holbrooke, called for patience on Sunday over allegations of vote rigging in the country’s recent presidential elections. President Hamid Karzai’s leading challenger has accused him of using the Afghan state to “rig” this week’s election and has detailed allegations of cheating by government officials. Abdullah Abdullah, once Karzai’s foreign minister, said on Saturday he was in contact with other campaigns to explore the possibility of a coalition candidacy in case none of the 36 candidates won enough votes in last Thursday’s ballot to avoid a runoff, probably in October. The accusations, which Karzai’s spokesman denied, are the most direct Abdullah has made against the incumbent in a contest that likely has weeks to go before a winner is proclaimed. Both Abdullah and Karzai claim they are in the lead based on reports from campaign poll-watchers monitoring the count. Speaking during a tour of Herat on Sunday, Holbrooke said there was “always rumors in Afghanistan.” However, he added, “we have disputed elections in the United States. There maybe are some questions here, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. I expect it.” Holbrooke stressed that the US would “respect the process set up by Afghanistan itself”. The Afghan government’s chief electoral officer told a news conference in Kabul on Saturday that preliminary results in the country’s second-ever direct presidential elections would be announced by 7 September. Millions of Afghans voted in the country’s second-ever direct presidential election, although Taliban threats and attacks appeared to hold down the turnout, especially in the south where Karzai was expected to run strong among his fellow Pashtuns. Election observers have said the voting process was mostly credible, but are cataloging instances of fraud and violence. US, UN and Afghan officials said they had not expected a fraud-free election , but hoped that cheating would be on a small enough scale that the vote was seen as credible. If neither Karzai or Abdullah gets 50 percent of the vote among a field of some three dozen candidates, then the two will go to a run-off. Anticipating that likelihood, Abdullah said he has been in contact “either directly or indirectly” with most of the presidential candidates – aside from Karzai – over the possibility of a coalition candidacy in round two. If Abdullah could persuade supporters of Ramazan Bashardost and Ashraf Ghani – the other top candidates – to endorse him, the extra support could be enough to defeat Karzai in a second round.