Abdullah Abdullah destabilizing democracy?

[khushal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-27914425

Karzai's full interview with BBC.

Tajik and Hazara leadership are extremely stupid. I neither like Abdullah nor Ghani because one wont be accepted by Pashtuns and the other wont be accepted by Tajiks and Hazaras but if Abduallah takes the realm, the Pashtun nationalists would join the Taliban just like the Baathists joined ISIS in Iraq.

these people are clueless, they don't get it. Its better for tajiks and hazara leaderships to fold if they care about their people.

[Khostai]

Come on Khostai, I gave him an alternative. Didn't you at one time say its better to join the Taliban than to accept a gov that would marginalize the majority of the population when Abdullah was ahead of Ghani in the first round. Well most afghans think like that because in the current gov has been doing the same thing.

It is evident that you don't care as long as people like you, the Pashtun nationalist, are in power which makes you no different than the people you accuse of only creating destability to grab power.

Yes the bold part is true, but now we have a chance to bring peace and stability, so by just complaining and yelling that this election is not ligimate would not bring you far, we have a chance now with Ashraf Ghani to do something, and make Afghanistan better.

I think the talibs should just at least give a chance to Ghani to prove if he is capable precident like he claims to be. Becuase they also gave a chance to Karzai before they started the war again.
If he is the same as Karzai, than they can start there business again.

And by the way, this is the first time in this USA invasion time that Pashtun natiolanist have some voice. Before that there was no such thing.
And please don't call Karzai and his gang nationalist. You know that this is not true.

[HalloIsBack]

Partial runoff vote results announcement delayed

By Ghanizada - Sat Jun 21 2014, 3:59 pm

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The release of partial results for the second round of presidential election has been delayed in a bid to build confidence between the two candidates.
Nicholas Haysom, deputy special representative for the UN secretary general, said Saturday that the decision was taken after one of the contenders Dr. Abdullah Abdullah said he would not accept the results.
Abdullah earlier this week announced to halt his ties with the Independent Election Commission and Independent Electoral Complaints Commission.
He also demanded an immediate halt to vote counting and said his team will not accept the outcome by the two electoral bodies.
This comes Independent Election Commission (IEC) officials earlier had said that the partial vote results will be announced from saturday.
However, Haysom said the move to delay the announcement is aimed at building confidence between the two contenders.

http://www.khaama.com/partial-runoff-vote-results-announcement-delayed-6219

[HalloIsBack]

Protests in Kabul deepen Afghan election impasse

16:55 Jun 21, 2014 International


KABUL: Supporters of Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah marched through Kabul Saturday to protest against alleged fraud in last week's election, escalating tensions in a political stalemate threatening the country's first democratic transfer of power.

More than 1,000 protesters -- far below organisers' expectations -- gathered in the city for the largely peaceful demonstration but the United Nations warned that any street violence "could lead to a spiral of instability".

Abdullah has boycotted the election vote count, pitching Afghanistan into a crisis as NATO combat troops withdraw from a 13-year war against Taliban insurgents.

The former foreign minister accused his poll rival Ashraf Ghani, outgoing President Hamid Karzai and election authorities of all committing fraud to deny him victory.

Demonstrators took to the streets shouting slogans and carrying banners that read "Fraudsters should be put on trial" and "We will defend our vote to the last drop of our blood".

"The election authorities are not impartial," Asar Hakimi, one protest organiser, told AFP.

"All the achievements of the past 12 years are at stake. We will continue protesting if the government and the election commission continue their hostility."

He said the "anti-fraud" rallies were not organised by Abdullah's campaign, but the crowds appeared to be made up of Abdullah supporters.

Reports of the ongoing vote count suggest that Ghani has made a surprise comeback after finishing behind Abdullah in the first-round election on April 5.

Abdullah said he now considers the election authorities "illegitimate" and has alleged that in several provinces there were more votes than eligible voters.

- UN warning on violence -

The United Nations, which Abdullah and Karzai have asked to help solve the deadlock, on Saturday urged Afghan security forces to "act with full neutrality and professionalism at this difficult time" and described some social media activity as "disturbing".

"We would call upon supporters of the candidates to refrain from inflammatory statements, or statements that promote divisive ethnic mobilisation," UN mission deputy chief Nicholas Haysom told reporters.

The threat of ethnic unrest is a grim prospect for Afghanistan, where tribal loyalties are still fierce after the 1992-1996 civil war.

Abdullah's support is based among the Tajik minority and other northern tribes, while Ghani is a Pashtun -- Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, which is strongest in the Taliban heartlands of the south and east.

A smooth election was seen as a key benchmark for the US-led coalition that has fought against the Taliban and donated billions of dollars in aid since 2001.

But NATO military operations are winding down fast, and the dispute could wreck claims that a functioning state has been set up in place of the Taliban regime which was ousted in 2001 for sheltering Osama bin Laden.

Abdullah, who has called for his supporters to remain peaceful, believes fraud denied him victory in the 2009 election, and he often said that only a repeat of ballot-rigging could keep him from power this time.

He faced Ghani in the run-off vote after the two came first and second in an eight-man first-round election, when Abdullah was ahead with 45 percent against Ghani's 31.6 percent.

In response to calls for it to play a mediating role, the UN said: "We stand ready to assist... in resolving this political impasse, subject to this (being) an Afghan-led and Afghan-managed process."

"The task ahead of us is to have the candidates reengaged fully in the election process," Haysom said. "There is no other way of electing a legitimate leader."

The preliminary election result is due on July 2 and the final result, after adjudication of complaints, is scheduled for July 22.

An early morning suicide attack in Kabul targeted Masoom Stanekzai, a senior official at the government body responsible for exploring peace talks with the Taliban.

Stanekzai escaped the blast uninjured, but that one civilian was killed and three wounded. afp

http://www.samaa.tv/international/21-Jun-2014/protests-in-kabul-deepen-afghan-election-impasse

[HalloIsBack]

Abdullah Supporters Continue Protests in Kabul


21 Jun, 2014
Written By Karim Amini



Crowds in the hundreds marched through Kabul on Saturday, continuing a spell of public demonstrations that has followed in the wake of claims made by presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah regarding fraud in last week's runoff election.
Although concerns around fraud exist outside of Abdullah's camp, the protesters on Saturday were organized in solidarity this his decision to boycott the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which he claims helped engineer fraud with the aid of the Afghan government in favor of his opponent, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai.
The protestors on Saturday demanded that election officials ensure their votes are respected and valid votes are distinguished from fraudulent onjes.
“We will defend our vote," one protestor said. "We will not allow fraud to shape our destiny, but the government and election commissions are quiet and not doing anything."
Although the protests were peaceful, some participants used threatening language, only further fueling concerns that this year's election process faces the danger of deteriorating into a serious political conflict.
“We will defend our vote till the last drop of blood in our bodies,"
one protestor told TOLOnews. "This is the third time that our rights are taken, once in 2009 and twice during these elections," he added.
The 2009 presidential election that re-elected President Hamid Karzai was marred by electoral irregularities. In the end, despite making similar claims as this year, then second-place candidate Abdullah Abdullah declined to enter a runoff and conceded the race.
On Saturday, groups of Afghan women participated in the demonstrations. They, like their fellow male protestors, called for officials involved in fraud to be held acccountable.
“Those who committed fraud must be tried; Amarkhail and other government officials involved in fraud must be removed from their position and tried," one female demonstrator said.
Zia-ul-Haq Amarkahil, the IEC's Secretariat Chief, was implicated in vote rigging on Election Day when his convoy was stopped leaving the IEC's headquarters loaded with blank ballots. Although election officials have come to his defense, Abdullah has called for his suspension.
Amarkhail spoke at a press conference on Saturday afternoon, in a showing of his continued good-standing at the IEC. He assured that all complaints regarding fraud would be rigorously reviewed by the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC).
The demonstrations moved around the city, including stops outside the Presidential Palace, the International Airport and the IEC's office.
For residents who didn't take part in the protests, they simply proved an inconvenience.
“This traffic rush has really annoyed us, I have been here for over an hour with my family," Ajmal, a driver caught in traffic said.
Pro-Abdullah protests were reported in Kunduz as well.
Part of the demands being made by protestors on Saturday was that the United Nations take action as a independent mediator of the disputed election results.
A UN Specia Representative to Afghanistan, Nicholas Haysom, held a press conference on Saturday and discussed the UN's growing role in the election process. Abdullah first initiated engagement with the UN earlier this week when he suggested the intergovernmental organization oversee the rest of the election proceedings in order to ensure neutrality in vote counting and fraud investigations.
According to Haysom, the UN is now mediating discussions between the two candidates and the Afghan government. He also expressed support for the demonstrations in so far as it is in Afghans' right to express themselves in such a way.
“In regard to the demonstrations which are planned for today, I think, expressing ones’ self concerns is a perfectly democratic right, although, in honesty we should share with you our concerns that should any violence emanate from demonstrations, it could set back the process, make the task of trust building more difficult,” Haysom said.
The Afghan Ministry of Interior (MoI) assured that no chaos would occur and that Afghan security forces have the protests under control.
“We are certain that the situation will not be chaotic, the security forces have the situation under control," Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqi said. "There is a great deal of cooperation between security forces and the groups behind the protests."

http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/abdullah-supporters-continue-protests-kabul

[HalloIsBack]

Amarkhil confident Karzai will not ask him to step down

By Ghanizada - Sun Jun 22 2014, 5:39 pm

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Ziaulhaq Amarkhil, the secretariat head of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC), has said he is confident that President Hamid Karzai will not ask him to step down.
Amarkhil has been accused of perpetrating “Industrial-scale” fraud in favor of presidential contender Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the second round of election.
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah also called for immediate suspension of Amarkhil from his position as the head of secretariat of IEC and halted his ties with the electoral bodies.
Some of the supporters of Dr. Abdullah on Sunday circulated a recording, allegedly of Mr. Amarkhil’s phone intercepts, that purports to show his involvement in organizing fraud ahead of the June 14 runoff.
Mr. Amarkhil is allegedly heard talking in code words such as “skinny” and “fat sheep” to refer to election turnout, urging local IEC officials to replace poll workers with members of the Uzbek and Pashtun communities that support Mr. Ghani.
In the recording, Mr. Amarkhil is also heard discussing which local commanders are more sympathetic to Mr. Ghani’s side.
However, Mr. Amarkhil dismissed the allegations and said he doesn’t recall having such conversations. “I would never talk like that,” Amarkhil told The Wall Street journal.
In response to a question regarding his possible dismissal by President Karzai, Amarkhil said he is confident President Karzai won’t ask him to step down.
He also expressed confidence that Mr. Karzai won’t sacrifice him as part of an effort to broker a compromise between Messrs.

http://www.khaama.com/amarkhil-confident-karzai-will-not-ask-him-to-step-down-6231

[khushal]

The only people that have access to that recording is the NSA.

The US wants to create mini states and Abdullah is more inclined to deliver. Did Karzai outsmart them again like during the last election.

[DaZahroJaam.]

i had a dream last night that he won.

[khushal]

They are exaggerating the numbers of the protests. they number just a few hundred people in a city of 3 million.

Abdullah is too cheap, he has to spend money to organize those protests. Maybe he is waiting for the US to fit that bill.

Pashtuns should plan ahead and organize their own protests. [MENTION=1498]ComradePashtun[/MENTION], do you know what you have to do Ghul.

[HalloIsBack]

Abdullah Team Releases Audio Recordings Implicating Amarkhail


22 Jun, 2014
Written By Sayed Sharif Amiry



Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah’s campaign team on Sunday publicly released alleged recordings of phone calls made by the head of the Independent Election Commission’s (IEC) Secretariat, Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, regarding plans for ballot stuffing during last Saturday’s runoff election.
The five phone conversations publicized by Abdullah’s team are reportedly between Amarkhail, his assistant and members of presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai’s campaign as well as provincial level IEC officials. Although the identities of the persons heard in the tapes remain unconfirmed, the content of the conversations is extremely incriminating.
The audio releases were presented by Nasrullah Baryalai at a press conference in Kabul early Sunday afternoon. They mark the first installment of supposed evidence that Abdullah and his team have claimed to have proving the involvement of election officials in widespread fraud.
Abdullah had accused Amarkhail of orchestrating ballot rigging within a day after polls closed on June 14. When his demands that Amarkhail be suspended from his position and investigated went unmet, he announced his decision to boycott the election commissions, called for vote counting to halt and asked that the United Nations step in to mediate the remainder of the process.

The first of the recorded conversations released on Sunday is purportedly between Amarkhail and a member of Ghani’s campaign team. The two voices, which seem to be male, begin by discussing the “Governor of Ghazni”, who the man Abdullah’s team claims to be a member of Ghani’s campaign, claims “is also with us”.
The voice that the Abdullah team claims belongs to Amarkhail then instructs the other man to tell the governor to return to Ghazni province from Kabul in order to start working with the "Police Chief". The same voice then asks whether the Police Chief is “with us or against us” and later asks the man on the other end as well as someone named “Popal” to meet with the “commander". The voice then names "Ashraf Ghani” as someone who Popal spends time with.
The voice said to be Amarkhail then derides quality of people he indicates the other man on the phone has sent him. “Send me some useful people and make the best of my presence here,” the voice says. “I need two to three people in Badakhshan; I need an Uzbek and some one from Ismalis there.”
Then, in perhaps the most explicit reference to fraud on the first recording, the voice said to be Amarkhail urges the man on the other end to send him people who “know why they are hired.” “They are hired to stuff the sheep properly.” Abdullah's team have maintained “sheep” is code for ballot boxes.
The other man then warns that he cannot tell all of “them” everything over the phone, to which the alleged voice of Amarkhail advises that “another phone” or a meeting in Kabul would work. He indicates the people they are referring to are in Badakhshan province.
The video containing the audio that Abdullah’s team released then goes on to bullet point what they regard as the key takeaway’s of the recording, naming Ghani in each one, despite the fact that his name was largely left out of the phone conversation.
The next recording is said to be between Amarkhail and a senior IEC staff member in Laghman province named “Mr. Safi”. Again, the two voices in the tape appear to be male.
The conversation begins with the voice said to belong to Amarkhail questioning whether or not “changes” had been made, and suggesting that efforts in Laghman are going slowly. The other man on the phone responds by assuring that he had “appointed three individuals as DFC’s from the list Mr. Serat had sent.” Mr. Serat is identified by the Abdullah team video as being Amarkhail’s Executive Assistant.
The two men on the phone then refer to meeting with a man named “Rayes Saleh”, and taking the “goats and the sheep” from him. As well, the voice identified as Mr. Safi is told by the other man on the phone to meet with someone who has come from abroad to help “make a proper plan”.
Although it is difficult to distinguish who says it, one of the voices says, “Be brave. Stuff the sheep properly and bravely and then bring them.”
When he asks about what to do with a number of “sites” that have been labeled “high risk” by a local police chief in Freshghan, the voice said to belong to Amarkhail says to close the sites all together.
Again, the video concludes the audio with bullet point takeaways.
The third conversation included is said to be between Amarkhail and a “Mr. Mashal”, reportedly a senior IEC staff member of the “South”. It begins with the voice attributed to Amarkhail saying, “Today somebody sent you a message, meet them and also coordinate with Sulatni.” He then instructs the other man to “bring Baloch and like-minded people” to deal with something related to six districts.
“I have already arranged that only Dilaram and Charburjak are left. I have invited the person and I am meeting him now,” the voice of Mr. Mashal responds.
The man said to be Amarkhail then instructs the other man to, “place them properly and tell them to bring the sheep stuffed and not empty.” The video provided by the Abdullah team then, in a slightly cheeky tone, reads: “Mr. Amarkhail likes his sheep stuffed properly.”
The fourth conversation is said to take place between Amarkhail and an IEC staff-member in Faryab province. It begins with the voice of the man said to be Amarkhail asking “what seems to be the problem?” The other man responds that “other people” make up the majority in his office.
“Why don’t you get rid of them then?” the voice attributed to Amarkhail says. “Take a stick and kick them all out. It’s an embarrassment. Recruit Uzbeks and Pashtuns. If you don’t, they will again resort to fraud.”
The other voice said to be the Faryab IEC officials says he is looking for an “excuse to fire them”, and then the other man again tells him to recruit Uzbeks and Pashtuns, but this time he says explicitly as “center managers”.
Although the recording did not say of the kind explicitly, the video composed by Abdullah’s team characterizes the previous conversation as saying, “Mr. Amarkhail orders IEC staff to fire Tajiks and Hazaras from Faryab province…Mr. Amarkhail thinks they are disgrace to IEC.”
The video then displays a paragraph directed at the viewer. “What you will hear in a moment is a secret audio recording between Adam Khan Serat, Executive Assistant to Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail and Ehsanullah Kamawal, a senior member of Dr. Ghani’s campaign team in Nangarhar. This conversation took place about two weeks before the run-off. The subjects use coded language and we have tried our best to decode their messages without prejudice.”
The conversation begins by the voice identified as Serat telling the other man to save the number he is using, which is apparently different from the one the other man has for him. The man said to be Serat then says,”These days the price of goat and sheep has gone up.” The video, in brackets, claims “goat and sheep” is a metaphor for ballot boxes.
The two voices discuss texting each other before calling and then the one said to belong to Serat tells the other that the “boss”, thought to be Amarkhail, wants to talk to him.
“I didn’t understand…it both in Laghman and also in Dar-e-Noor Nuristan province,” the voice said to belong to a member of Ghani’s team says. The other man says no, and says new “individuals” should be introduced.
“The person you just met, he is smart and knows what he is meant to do,” the man said to be on Ghani’s team says. He then goes on to say that of two individuals in Nuristan, one "who came newly has joined us.”
The man said to be Amarkhail’s assistant then says he hopes the fact that “the person” in Nuristan might be “willing to cooperate” because he is from the same village and the “nephew of the man”. In brackets, the editors of the video have noted that IEC Chairman Ahmed Yousuf Nuristani is from Nuristan.
The supposed Ghani campaign member asks if “Badr” can come to "us", to which the voice said to be Serat says that “Badr” is already with them. He then says Badr might be able to convince the person from Nuristan to cooperate because they are from the same village, but warns that he should not pressure the person too much because “he is a nephew of the man”.
The voice said to belong to the Ghani team member then asks about what will happen in Laghman province.
I am confident with the person in Laghman 100 percent," the voice attributed to Serat says. "Just introduce people to him so that they take the sheep to the mountain and bring them back stuffed."
The man identified as a Ghani team member then agrees to meet the person in Laghman once he has contacted him. The recording then ends.
The composed video concludes with a message declaring that the tapes show the IEC Secretariat is in cahoots with the Ghani campaign, raising "serious questions about integrity and impartiality of the commission."

Abdullah’s team refused to disclose the source of the recordings, but has said they will present further evidence of electoral improprieties on the part of government, security and election officials in the coming days.

“We have many other documents, this was only a small part of it, we will share the remaining files with you in the upcoming days,” Baryalai said at the press conference on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Abas Nuyan, a spokesman for Ashraf Ghani's campaign, said the authenticity of the audio recordings still needed to be determined. He also said that if they were given to Abdullah's team by members of the Afghan security institutions, then their impartiality would be called into question.

Officials at the IEC have asked both candidates to submit any and all evidence they have of electoral fraud to the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). The Abdullah team did not make it clear whether or not the recordings were part of the complaint against Amarkhail that they have filed.

http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/abdullah-team-releases-audio-recordings-implicating-amarkhail

[ComradePashtun]

They are exaggerating the numbers of the protests. they number just a few hundred people in a city of 3 million.

Abdullah is too cheap, he has to spend money to organize those protests. Maybe he is waiting for the US to fit that bill.

Pashtuns should plan ahead and organize their own protests. [MENTION=1498]ComradePashtun[/MENTION], do you know what you have to do Ghul.

Da khra zoya da amrekay na pa murra geda parsi waye. Ghol khora da ahmaq zoya da da tolo pashtano numayenda aw spokeman ta che pashtano ta sook qabool de aw sook na. Ta da ahmaq zoy pa bala duya kshe ke ye and thats why I never argue or debate with you. You retard. I don't have to anything da ISI zoya ta malamat nayw ta pa pakistani marassah ke daal deer khoraley.

[ComradePashtun]

The only people that have access to that recording is the NSA.

The US wants to create mini states and Abdullah is more inclined to deliver. Did Karzai outsmart them again like during the last election.

You demented SOB, NSA?

The NDS is capable of tapping calls. It is almost 100% certainly NDS's work and leaked to Abdullah x 2 that is if the recording is genuine. Abdullah's own actions abd that of the NDS impartiality is itself under question now. Every one is involved in this dirty game.

[khushal]

Da khra zoya da amrekay na pa murra geda parsi waye. Ghol khora da ahmaq zoya da da tolo pashtano numayenda aw spokeman ta che pashtano ta sook qabool de aw sook na. Ta da ahmaq zoy pa bala duya kshe ke ye and thats why I never argue or debate with you. You retard. I don't have to anything da ISI zoya ta malamat nayw ta pa pakistani marassah ke daal deer khoraley.

argue ow debate kawai nashay. Khwlay na de ghwal ra wo zee, e tah gonah na de che plar na la ray che adab der zda kee. Talib de plar ka che adab der zda kee. aramoonya.

[khushal]

You demented SOB, NSA?

The NDS is capable of tapping calls. It is almost 100% certainly NDS's work and leaked to Abdullah x 2 that is if the recording is genuine. Abdullah's own actions abd that of the NDS impartiality is itself under question now. Every one is involved in this dirty game.

stop talking like the ******* that you are. The NDS is an arm of the NSA. they are the same.

[BarakzaiAbdali]

You demented SOB, NSA?

The NDS is capable of tapping calls. It is almost 100% certainly NDS's work and leaked to Abdullah x 2 that is if the recording is genuine. Abdullah's own actions abd that of the NDS impartiality is itself under question now. Every one is involved in this dirty game.

Salamoona Comrade,

To resolve the dispute between two good people, I would say that this was big news recently from Glenn Greenwald (the Snowden reporter):

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/dai...sa-afghanistan

There is a program in place called MYSTIC which sweeps up telephony data in nations en masse.

The story goes (as the Vanity Fair article shows) that Greenwald released the names of 3 countries: The Bahamas, Mexico, and Kenya and also noted a country X that was having all of this data secured and scanned by the NSA.

They preferred the label country X because they were told by the Defense Department that it would be easy to identify who, in Country X, was permitting this NSA monitoring and that this could result in the deaths of these people.

For that reason, the usually intrepid Greenwald held back the name of Country X.

Julian Assange of wikileaks fame was furious and felt that this was a racist move and that it was unfair for the people of country X to not know what was happening to their privacy.

He then released the name of Country X as a challenge to Greenwald:

On Monday, Greenwald, Ryan Devereaux, and Laura Poitras revealed that American national-security operatives have been recording all calls in the Bahamas, and that the same program, MYSTIC, is scooping up metadata in Mexico, Kenya, and the Philippines.

That’s a significant reveal, and it goes much further than The Washington Post did in March, when Barton Gellman and Ashkan Soltani wrote on the N.S.A.’s capability to record full-take audio.

But Greenwald’s The Intercept wasn't ready to reveal the name of a second nation where such capabilities were being applied, “in response to specific, credible concerns that doing so could lead to increased violence.” That act of caution caught the attention of the WikiLeaks Twitter account, which went on a tear and accused Greenwald of “painting future publications into a corner with this Pentagon line.”

Here is the important other part:

We do not believe it is the place of media to ‘aid and abet’ a state in escaping detection and prosecution for a serious crime against a population,” Assange’s statement read. “Consequently WikiLeaks cannot be complicit in the censorship of victim state X. The country in question is Afghanistan.”

So it seems the hypothesis that NDS's capabilities hinge on the MYSTIC program is based in evidence.

This is not a commentary on whether that is good, bad, right, or wrong its just a clarifier.