Good news from Afghanistan

international | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis Monday October 11, 2004 08:49 by Michael Hennigan - Finfacts.com

The massive response of the Afghani people to the presidential election is very positive news after a quarter century of civil war and upheavel. This positive development should not be seen through the prism of the US elections.

Reports suggest that controversy surrounding Afghanistan's historic first presidential election eased Sunday when several major opposition candidates backed off from assertions that voter fraud and errors at polling places had rendered Saturday's vote meaningless and illegitimate.

Afghan and international officials praised the massive, peaceful demonstration of civic will shown by millions of voters, and they played down the complaints of voting irregularities initially made by 15 candidates.

Robert Barry, who headed the European delegation monitoring the election, said the opposition candidates' demands to nullify the vote were "unjustified" and would "put into question the expressed will of millions of citizens." He called for a "thorough and transparent investigation" of the polling complaints and said they should be "dealt with as the law provides."

The country faces many problems but there is some reason for hope. Afghanistan has made some progress in the past three years. Not only has most of the country enjoyed relative peace during that time, but per capita incomes have doubled, millions of children -- including most girls -- have returned to school, and infant mortality and other health measures have improved. Kabul and other cities are booming, a national road network is under construction and 3 million refugees have returned home. President Karzai recently ousted two of the most powerful warlords from their governmental positions, and about a quarter of the militia members around the country have been demobilised.