West’s message on Afghan elections: Don’t expect too much focus 04/27/2010

West’s message on Afghan elections: Don’t expect too much

focus 04/27/2010 KABUL — Managing expectations has become a priority for Afghanistan’s weary Western partners as the corrupt, impoverished and war-torn country moves towards parliamentary elections later this year. Candidates began registering last week for the poll, which is set for September 18 after it was postponed from the original May date. “I assure the people of Afghanistan that the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) will be working day and night to ensure free, fair and just elections,” acting chief electoral officer Zakria Barakzai said as registration began. His optimism is rare in Kabul: Afghan and Western officials alike reckon fraud will be a key element in the September elections, as it was in last August’s presidential poll, which returned Hamid Karzai for a second term. August’s poll dealt a heavy blow to the credibility of the democratic experiment in Afghanistan, which began soon after the overthrow of the Taliban’s 1996-2001 regime in a US-led invasion. Aware of the fall in Western public support for the war and aid effort once the scale of the last year’s fraud became clear, diplomats appear to be on a mission of pre-emptive damage control.... MORE   Source:  The Daily Tribune   URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100427com3.html

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