Charges of fraud in Afghanistan’s presidential election are extensive enough that they could sway the final result, the commission investigating the complaints said yesterday.
The independent Electoral Complaints Commission has received 225 complaints since polls opened on Thursday, including 35 allegations that are “material to the election results,” said Grant Kippen, the head of the UN-backed body.
The figures include complaints about both the presidential election and provincial council polls.
Millions of Afghans voted in the country’s second-ever direct presidential election, although Taliban threats and attacks appeared to hold down the turnout.
In an interview with the Associated Press on Saturday Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s top challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, accused the president of rigging the vote. Another presidential candidate has displayed mangled ballots that he said were cast for him and then thrown out by election workers.
Election observers have said the voting process was mostly credible, but are cataloging instances of fraud and violence. The most common complaint in the 35 high-priority allegations was ballot box tampering, Kippen said.
He said the number was likely to grow. The commission has only received complaints filed at provincial capitals and Kabul so far and is still waiting for complaints that were filed at polling sites.
The top Afghan monitoring group has said there were widespread problems with supposedly independent election officials at polling stations trying to influence the way people voted. That group, the Free and Fair Elections Foundation of Afghanistan, also catalogued violations such as people using multiple voter cards so they could vote more than once and underage voting.
The US special envoy to Afghanistan said allegations of vote rigging and fraud were to be expected, but observers should wait for the official complaints process to run its course before judging the vote’s legitimacy.
“We have disputed elections in the United States. There may be some questions here, that wouldn’t surprise me at all. I expect it, but let’s not get out ahead of the situation,” Richard Holbrooke said.
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source
CHINA REACTS: The patrol and reconnaissance plane ‘transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,’ the 7th Fleet said, while Taipei said it saw nothing unusual The US 7th Fleet yesterday said that a US Navy P-8A Poseidon flew through the Taiwan Strait, a day after US and Chinese defense heads held their first talks since November 2022 in an effort to reduce regional tensions. The patrol and reconnaissance plane “transited the Taiwan Strait in international airspace,” the 7th Fleet said in a news release. “By operating within the Taiwan Strait in accordance with international law, the United States upholds the navigational rights and freedoms of all nations.” In a separate statement, the Ministry of National Defense said that it monitored nearby waters and airspace as the aircraft