KABUL: After months of delays and political bickering, Afghanistan is preparing for presidential elections with a risk of more of the bloodshed ...
KABUL: After months of delays and political bickering, Afghanistan is preparing for presidential elections with a risk of more of the bloodshed and fraud allegations that have marred previous polls.
This means Afghanistan's next president must figure out how to deal with the Taliban, who steadfastly have refused to negotiate with the Kabul government.Everything, potentially, could be up for grabs: women's rights, personal freedoms, the constitution itself. Some observers have said this year's electoral delays were to make room for US-Taliban talks, but more likely it was down to bungling by election officials.
Abdullah, who also lost against Hamid Karzai in 2009, has a Pashtun father and a Tajik mother, so is likely to draw support from both groups - a key factor in a nation riven by regional and ethnic rivalries. Other contenders include Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former warlord accused of war crimes and British-educated Ahmad Wali Massoud, the brother of legendary anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban fighter Ahmad Shah Massoud.Many are despondent about the prospects of a fair election, and worry about a repeat of the sort of violent attacks on previous polls by the Taliban and other insurgent groups trying to undermine Afghanistan's fragile democracy.
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