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Afghanistan wants warlords off the ballot

With only two weeks to go before Afghanistan`s parliamentary elections, officials here are making a last minute bid to ensure that warlords do not get a firm foothold in the new government. The Elections Complaints Commission is reconsidering whether 21 candidates should be disqualified for being warlords or having links to illegal militias. With ballots already printed for the Sept. 18 vote, any further disqualifications would have to be posted at polling stations to warn voters away from wasting their vote. Since coming to power, the central government, headed by US-backed President Hamid Karzai, has gingerly tried to disarm and remove warlords from their bases of power - and met with some success. Analysts fear that the parliamentary election could be a setback to those efforts if warlords or their surrogates are allowed to wield their influence within the corridors of Afghanistan`s fledgling legislature.

The latest investigations are the second attempt to purge warlords from a field of 5,800 candidates for the National Assembly and Provincial Councils. The process has been criticized by human rights groups and other observers for allowing past human rights abusers and current outlaws to run for government and perpetuate Afghanistan",s culture of impunity. The initial vetting process ended on July 12, when only 11 candidates out of 208 allegedly involved in illegal armed groups were stricken from the ballot. Officially, those still in the race showed sufficient efforts to comply with election laws. (With no convictions for crimes against humanity, candidates` past atrocities will slide for now.)

Since the formal vetting process, many tales of voter intimidation have circulated around the country, although the UN and the ECC attempt to keep registered complaints confidential. Observers also say that self-censorship on the part of those intimidated keeps the extent of the problem difficult to gauge.