Kai Eide, the United Nations’ Special Envoy to Afghanistan, added fuel to the concerns of many that the upcoming vote in Afghanistan would be rigged. Eide urged President Hamid Karzai’s government to “demonstrate that it will do its utmost to reassure the opposition that elections will be fair and will be transparent and that the resources of incumbency will not be misued.”
The rampant corruption in the Afghan government has fueled concerns that the incumbent Karzai would enjoy an insurmountable advantage, and has led opposition figures to pressure Karzai to resign before the election. Eide called the opposition’s concerns “real and well-founded.”
Karzai has made a lot of enemies internationally in recent days, with his public criticism of NATO air strikes and raids that have killed civilians, and the Obama Administration is reportedly eager to see him ousted. Only yesterday, Karzai warned the international community against meddling in the nation’s internal politics.