Word: runoff
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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...million votes cast. When these tainted ballots are discounted, the front-runner and incumbent, President Hamid Karzai, may yet emerge as the first-round winner, even though his loyalists were the most brazen vote riggers. But if his tally falls below 50%, Karzai might be forced into a runoff against his former Foreign Minister, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. U.N. officials are already rushing to print new ballots so that a run-off election could be held in early November. Afghans and international sponsors of the election agree that the only way to salvage its credibility is to see the process through...
...Pashtun from the respected Popalzai tribe, credentials that may assist him in trying to negotiate with the predominantly Pashtun Taliban. (These recent elections reopened old schisms between the Pashtuns and the Tajiks, and if Abdullah, who is widely perceived as a Tajik leader, were to somehow win the runoff, the Taliban's ranks would almost certainly be swelled by masses of angry young Pashtuns...
...Afghan election mess will probably be resolved in the next month. If a runoff election is required, it will be held before winter - just about the time health care is decided in Congress, which brings us back to Kerry's observation. These issues are linked. If Obama wins health care, he will have the political capital to move any way he wishes on Afghanistan - with the military, or against...
...help fix that perception. Instead, they have been marred by allegations of massive ballot-stuffing, mainly (but not exclusively) by Karzai's supporters. Afghanistan's Electoral Complaints Commission has ordered a partial recount, citing "clear and convincing evidence of fraud." Still, whether Karzai wins outright or faces a runoff with his rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, he will almost certainly be re-elected...
...other parties with a stake in the result, including the U.S., would prefer a runoff. Washington has grown disenchanted with Karzai's dithering, corruption and tribal nepotism over the past few years and believes that a free election is required to give the country a chance at rebuilding. Even if Karzai wins a second round, they say, if it's seen as free and fair at least his position will have some legitimacy...