Observers OK Afghan poll

2004-10-10 16:48

Kabul - Observers gave their approval on Sunday to Afghanistan's first-ever presidential election, deeming it "fairly democratic" and rejecting opposition calls for a new vote on the grounds of fraud.

Claims of voting irregularities had tainted the jubilation among electors but the polls were hailed around the world for the strong turnout and lack of violence.

"A fairly democratic environment has generally been observed in the overall majority of the polling centres," the local Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan declared.

The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which contributed to the 230 foreign monitors, said on Saturday's demand by 14 opposition candidates to nullify the landmark election was "unjustified".

Any dispute about the validity of the election results "should be dealt with as the law provides," said Robert Barry, head of the OSCE support team.

"The millions who came to the polls clearly wanted to turn from the rule of the gun to the rule of law," he said.

Opposition candidates charge that the vote was fraudulent and illegitimate, largely because special ink which was supposed to stain voters' fingers to prevent them voting twice could be washed off.

Some of the protest candidates took a softer stance Sunday, saying they would bow to the findings of an election commission inquiry.

US-backed interim President Hamid Karzai, who is expected to win, called the vote a "defeat of terrorism".

- AFP