Deadly violence mars Afghan election

Over three million Afghan citizens have defied the deadly violence that has marred parliamentary elections to cast their vote in what has been described as a key test of the country’s democratic progress ahead of next year’s presidential election.

The United Nations estimates that 36 people were killed and some 130 wounded across the country on Saturday, with further deaths reported yesterday as some polls stayed open an extra day. Eleven people, including six children, were killed yesterday when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in the eastern province of Nangarhar.

More than 2,500 candidates, including 417 women, are vying for 250 seats “hop[ing] to reform Parliament, challenging the dominance of warlords and the politically corrupt and replacing them with a younger, more educated generation of politicians” says France24.

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However, the French news agency described the election as “chaotic” and “marred by deadly violence and technical glitches that have eroded its credibility”.

Abdul Bade Sayad, chairman of the election commission, told reporters armed men loyal to local power brokers in some provinces entered polling stations by force and broke election materials which caused serious irregularities.

Reuters reports that “many independent election observers, seen as an important check on efforts to manipulate the result, have been reluctant to work, fearing militant attacks”.

Yesterday, four observers were found shot dead in the northern province of Balkh, a day after they were abducted.

The elections already had been delayed for three years because of security concerns, and the assassination of an important provincial police chief by the Taliban on Thursday “only added to many Afghans' sense of unease as they turned out to cast their ballots”, reports CNN.

The BBC says “violence had also marred election campaigning”, with 10 candidates killed in the run-up to the polls, after both the Taliban and the Islamic State group vowed to disrupt them.

Despite this, “many believe even holding this election is an achievement” says the BBC’s chief international correspondent Lyse Doucet in Kabul, and will “usher in a more legitimate parliament to replace a discredited assembly and try to move toward presidential elections next year and Taliban peace talks”.

The result is not expected to be known for at least two weeks due to the difficulty in counting and collating votes, but “if it is seen as a “bad election,” it could be more consequential than not holding one at all” says Doucet.