Oct 20 2009
One cheer for another election in Afghanistan
I am glad the international community has had the courage to say the Afghan election was corrupted by too many false votes. They point out that most of the fiddles were for the incumbent President.
That makes today’s response by some commentators that Afghanistan needs a government of national unity led by the man who intended to profit from the corruption almost unbelievable. Surely the aim must be a run off second election to give the people the chance to decide what they think of his conduct and whether his closest rival would be better? The President is a lucky man that in this upside down world no-one us suggesting any culpability on his part for the past election, and all seem to think he should stand again in the run off despite the irregularities.
Trying to create a western style democracy in Afghanistan was always a heroic task. It requires bravery on a large scale. Today all democrats must surely say the election needs to be re-run, and all must unite behind the forces in Afghanistan that can try to allow the public there a free choice of candidate. Let’s hope the international community has learnt from the ways the eleciton was corrupted last time, and let’s hope they have enough influence with the Afghan authorities to ensure a better performance next time. Western troops should be asked to train and support those who will be running the polling, as a preparatory mission to more general training of the Afghan police and military which should be their main task from now on.
6 Responses to “One cheer for another election in Afghanistan”
John Redwood has been the Member of Parliament for Wokingham since 1987. First attending Kent College, Canterbury, he graduated from Magdalen College...
I see the Afghan mess has descended into another level of absurdity. Imagine the surprise in Downing Street to discover that a country with no history of democracy rigs the results! It’s not like there are scores of historical precedents like post colonial Africa….
If Karzai has any courage he will say to the allies “Go to hell, I am fighting terror, if you don’t like it withdraw your troops” And then where do we go? We could not really withdraw, neither could we morally continue to let our guys die to support a non-democratic democrat. I think he will squeeze huge concessions and money out of the West for himself and his cohorts before rigging another round of elections. Not really a good cause to die in I submit.
Sorry to be a bit sceptical, but all the froth and fury being generated in the Western media concerning democratic irregularities in Afghanistan strikes me as a bit preverse.
Afghanistan is a million miles away from being a democratic state. The very concept of democracy is alien to most of the country. Furthermore, re-running the elections will cause the deaths of many more hundreds of Afghanis, and risk replacing our pet Western educated puppet president with someone more likely to be pro-Taliban, pro-Russia/China.
I know it’s fashionable these days to support the “enemy” and to belittle one’s national interests, but what’s in it for us via our media to cheer the downfall of Karzai? And as for the Afghanis, what’s in it for them to swap a pro-Western dictator for what will almost certainly be an even more despotic, brutal, and fanatical Islamic dictator?
Afghan winters are harsh. The delay in holding the run off second election till the start of winter, could have an adverse effect on voter turnout.
I agree with training and support for those who will be running the polling. It should be continued thereafter.
But we should not be too quick back off from a fighting role, especially at a time when Pakistan is making a major push against the terrorist elements in its own country. We have oft been told that the terrorists are in the border region between Pakistan and Afghanistan, and move back and forth as it suits them. It seems to me it would be a pretty stupid strategy to back off in Afghanistan just at a time when the Pakistani initiative would be undermined were there to be a safe refuge for terrorist who simply hop across the border. Now is the time for a squeeze.
After the skulduggery carried out to get the Lisbon Constitution ratified without the explicit approval of their electorates, I am not sure that the European part of ‘the international community’ (whatever that may be) has a right to lecture ANYBODY on their imperfect democracy.
Another thing that worries me about both the Iraq and Afghan wars are the hidden agendas. It would appear that the Iraq war was justified because, even though there were no weapons of mass destruction, getting rid of Sadaam was a good idea. I suspect that the appaling way that the Taliban treat their women folk is a hidden reason for continuing the Afghan war.
So, the ancient question comes up again. In what circumstances is it legitimate to interfere in the internal affairs of another country? Counter terror is a legitimate reason, provide we stick to a narrow agenda.
[...] Redwood, a member of the British Parliament, cheers on the revote stating the election needs to be re-run, and all must unite behind the forces in Afghanistan that can try [...]