Govt elected thru fraud unacceptable: Noor

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): Balkh Governor Atta Mohammad Noor on Thursday said he would never accept a government elected through electoral fraud.

Addressing a Martyrs Week gathering in Mazar-i-Sharif, the provincial capital, he declared the Abdullah-led Reform and Unanimity team the winner of the presidential ballot.

In the same breath, the accused the administration of President Hamid Karzai, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Dr. Ashraf Ghani camp of massively rigging the vote.

The outcome of the second round of the polls was unacceptable, he told the meeting, which was attended by a large number of tribal elders, government officials and youth.

Noor asked the international community to reject the result of the ballot if it was really supported Afghanistan’s constitution. He also called for the prosecution of all those complicit in electoral irregularities.

With warlordism a thing of the past, now is the time for civil society activism, according to the governor, who pledged Green and Orange Movements against the electoral anomalies. 

As part of the Green Movement, the masses would take to the streets to demand their constitutionally-guaranteed rights, he said. The Orange Revolution would follow if the first movement fizzled out, he explained.

Noor said Orange Movement participants would protest against the government elected through fraud. The next step will be occupation of state institutions until the government bows out.

He called upon the audience to snatch their rights through discipline and good management, The Reform and Unanimity team would not accept anything short of power based on its public mandate, he maintained.

Noor regretted some individuals had been misusing the name of popular resistance leader Ahmad Shah Massoud. Such people would not enjoy any prestige if Ahmad Shah Masood had been alive, he remarked.

They were not ready for the run-off election because they had won the first round, he claimed. “But we accepted to go to the run-off at the request of our international partners.

Noor added British, German, NATO and United Nations officials had asked them to participate in the run-off. He alleged senior IEC officials and one of the vice-presidents were involved in fraud.

The governor claimed having thousands of proofs of election rigging, insisting the full vote audit was also marred by large-scale fraud. He blasted the IEC for stealing people’s mandate and national budget.

About President Hamid Karzai, Noor said he had made many wrong decisions. “I respect Karzai, as an educated democrat he has not made wise decisions. Dear Karzai, if you prefer a tribal transfer of power, I don’t think the country would move in the right direction.”

He went on to say: “Dr. Abdullah, a Kandahari Panjsheri, cannot become president in Afghanistan. But in Pakistan Ayub Khan had served as president.

“Zardari, a non-Punjabi also became president. A minority Jewish man in France can become president. US President Barack Obama, a black man, can serve as president. But in an ethnically divided Afghanistan, a staunch Muslim whose mother is Tajik cannot become head of state.”

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