Previous elections in Afghanistan have been mired in fraud, with insecurity hampering scrutiny and favouring cheating
AFGHAN ELECTIONS are never easy, but Saturday’s presidential poll had conjured up even more foreboding than usual. The country of 35m voted to choose a leader for the fourth time since the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001. The contest is a re-run of the one in 2014. The incumbent, Ashraf Ghani, is the favourite; his closest rival is likely to be the man he defeated five years ago, Abdullah Abdullah. There were 13 other candidates, including Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a blood-stained former warlord.
Mr Ghani insisted an election would strengthen the state and deliver a mandate to talk to the Taliban. Afghanistan’s international backers agreed, at least publicly, and stumped up millions to pay for it. But if the result is strongly disputed, it might make matters worse. The opposition is worried not simply about outright ballot-rigging, but also about insecurity that might curtail voting in places that are thought to favour its candidates. Some of those candidates, in turn, control militias.
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