Afghans voted yesterday to elect a president for the second time in history as fears emerged of weak turnout despite only sporadic violence from Taliban militants bent on sabotaging the ballot.
Insurgents stormed a small northern town, sparking deadly clashes that prevented voting, and security fears depressed turnout in Taliban strongholds of the south.
But NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen said the elections overall were “encouraging,” as Afghan officials granted people still lining up extra time to vote after polls officially closed.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai earlier urged Afghans to exercise their democratic rights in a nation still beset by a bloody insurgency eight years after the 2001 US-led invasion that ousted the Taliban.
“I request my dear countrymen to come out and cast their vote to decide their future,” Karzai said as he cast his ballot in a Kabul boys’ school near his heavily fortified palace, dismissing fears of unrest.
Minor attacks were reported elsewhere, including in Kandahar Province in the south, but cautiously optimistic Afghan and UN officials said violence could have been far worse.
“The kind of spectacular attacks that we were warned about have not happened. The day is still not over but I must say I am pleased to see that so far the elections have been going on quite well,” UN envoy Kai Eide said.
“The turnout is very good,” said deputy chief electoral officer Zekria Barakzai about halfway through voting.
But independent observers said voter participation appeared low.
“Turnout [in Kandahar] is definitely very, very low, significantly lower than in the north,” a Western diplomat said. “I have driven around the city [Kabul] and the situation is varying from time to time, but I have seen no queues and it is definitely very quiet, much quieter than in 2004.”
Karzai hopes to win an outright majority to avoid a run-off, but his nervous government ordered a blackout on reporting violence during polling day, threatening journalists with heavy penalties.
An energetic campaign by ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who has a northern powerbase and draws on ethnic Tajik support, has boosted the chance of a run-off, which would take place in around six weeks time.
Abdullah hailed “a day of change” as he voted alongside his wife and young son amid a throng of journalists and phalanx of security men.
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