Fears over Karzai move on election watchdog

Financial Times:

Diplomats say the moves by Mr Karzai to increase his control over the ECC may also reflect a broader aim of increasing Afghan control of state institutions in which foreign advisers have come to play an increasingly prominent role. The presence of three foreigners on an election monitoring body is an unusual arrangement that stems from Afghanistan’s highly donor-dependent status.

Mr Karzai’s move to take control of the ECC by using powers to issue decrees granted under the Afghan constitution has come as particular surprise to diplomats who had hoped a major conference in London last month would lead to a renewed partnership between the president and his international backers.

Any repeat of the kind of rigging that marred the presidential polls at September’s legislative elections would be a setback for western attempts to stabilise Afghanistan by committing more troops and civilian officials to try to undermine the Taliban.

Diplomats say Mr Karzai felt personally affronted by the ECC’s decision to strike out his election victory, which he believed he had earned in spite of the evidence of massive ballot-stuffing in many parts of the country. The election crisis sparked a nine-week political crisis at a time when Afghanistan and its allies were struggling to roll back a growing Taliban insurgency.

Posted via email from Jim Nichols