Foreign Correspondence

[fuagf]

Afghan election officials step down
UPDATED ON:Wednesday, April 07, 2010
14:01 Mecca time, 11:01 GMT


Afghan parliamentary elections are scheduled
to be held in September [GALLO/GETTY]

The head of Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) and his deputy
have stepped down, following international pressure after last year's fraud-tainted vote.

The resignations announced on Wednesday came after Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president,
hinted that the officials could be removed because of concerns from his Western backers.

Waheed Omer, Karzai's spokesman, said: "The tenure of the president
of the election commission, Dr Azizullah Ludin, has come to an end.

"Yesterday, he told the president that he did not want to continue in the position any more. It was accepted by the president.

Ludin and Daoud Ali Najafi, his number two, had previously tendered
their resignations although they had not been accepted, Omer said.

Parliamentary elections

Pressure has been high on Karzai to ensure that parliamentary elections, to be held in September, are fair.

In depth
Afghanistan elections 2009 .. http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/afghanistanelections2009/
Profile: Hamid Karzai .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2009/2009/2009/02/2009215134250521319.html
Blog: Afghanistan's torturous politics .. http://blogs.aljazeera.net/2009/12/20/post-afghanistan
Video: Afghan parliament challenges Karzai .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/01/201012194227690130.html ..
2 more videos.. Interview with US commander in Helmand .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/20102231621247927.html
Taliban fighter says Nato losing Afghan support .. http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/02/2010222131354638461.html
Frost over the World: Peter Galbraith ..
http://english.aljazeera.net/programmes/frostovertheworld/2010/02/2010228112041700753.html
Focus: To win over Afghans, US must listen .. http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/02/20102313495536477.html
Timeline: Afghanistan in crisis .. http://english.aljazeera.net/focus/2010/01/201012855829544554.html

In last year's presidential vote, which the IEC oversaw, a third of the votes for Karzai were
declared invalid following a probe by a UN-backed watchdog, the Election Complaints Commission.

Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from Afghanistan's Helmand province, said: "Ever since that election, one of the key
demands of the international community behind closed doors to President Karzai has been the removal of these two [IEC] men.

"But it's not all over yet because we don't know who Hamid Karzai is going to put in these two jobs.

"There's a lot of talk in Kabul right now concerning one man, he's called Abdul Karim
Khurram. He's a Karzai loyalist, one of his closest supporters ... and word in Kabul at the
moment is that he might get the job as the chairman of the Independent Election Commission."

Last week, Karzai admitted that there had been widespread fraud but angered
the international community by claiming that foreign governments were to blame.

"There was fraud in presidential and provincial council elections - no doubt
that there was a very widespread fraud, very widespread," Karzai said.

"But Afghans did not do this fraud. The foreigners did this fraud."

The United States called the comments "troubling" and hinted that Karzai's invitation
to visit Washington for talks with Barack Obama, the president, could be withdrawn.

But Karzai's spokesman later said the president's remarks would not affect
strategic relations between his government and the international community.

"It [Karzai's remarks] did not have any effect on the strategic relations with
the United States and the international community," Omer said on Wednesday.

"The strategic relationship between Kabul and Washington is still in the partnership
of the international community. Our stance and position are the same," he said.

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia/2010/04/2010479332645129.html