JURIST Supported by the University of Pittsburgh
PAPER CHASE NEWSBURSTDigest RSS feedFull RSS feed
Serious law. Primary sources. Global perspective.


Thursday, June 23, 2011

Controversial Afghan court overturns parliamentary election results for fraud
Zach Zagger at 9:47 AM ET

Photo source or description
[JURIST] A special court in Afghanistan on Thursday overturned the election results of nearly 25 percent of the assembly seats due to poll fraud in last September's parliamentary elections [IEC backgrounder]. Head of the special court Sediqullah Haqiq announced the ruling [Reuters report] that 62 out of the 249 legislators in the Wolesi Jirga [official website] elected last year have to vacate their seats and be replaced, sending the government into turmoil just as the US announced a major troop withdrawal. Afghan President Hamid Karzai [official profile, JURIST news archive] set up the special court by decree, which critics claim was to invalidate election gains made by his political opponents. Karzai's ethnic group and the base of the Taliban was underrepresented in the elections. Furthermore, the constitutional authority for the special court is in question, and it is unclear whether there can be any appeal. Haqiq announced the ruling as "final" but ousted legislators are submitting letters to the country's Supreme Court. Enforcement of the ruling is also unclear as it orders the Independent Election Commission (IEC) [official website] to disqualify the legislators whose elections it deems invalid, but the IEC does not recognize the legitimacy [AFP report] of the special court. Last September's election was marred by widespread allegations of fraud, as was the 2009 presidential election [JURIST news archive] in which Karzai came to power.

With the US withdrawing troops, ongoing disputes over irregularities in last September's parliamentary elections have raised doubts about the stability of the Afghan government. Last January, Karzai postponed the seating [JURIST report] of Parliament following a request by the special court for more time to look into allegations of fraud surrounding the elections. Karzai had promised [JURIST report] to have the special court review the election results in time to seat the election by the original January deadline. But the IEC claims that the special does not have legal authority to question the results that it certifies because the law says it has the final say in determining the elections results. In November, the Afghanistan Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) [official website] disqualified 21 candidates [JURST report] for electoral fraud after finding widespread voting irregularities in 12 provinces. Of the disqualified candidates, 19 had either won or were leading in their districts, seven of which were incumbents, and two were second place finishers in districts where the first place finisher was also disqualified. In October, the IEC invalidated 1.3 million votes [JURIST report], nearly a quarter of the 5.6 million votes cast nationwide, due to findings of fraud. The IEC found that the 2,543 polling stations where the votes had been cast did not follow IEC procedures.




Link |  | print | subscribe | RSS feeds | latest newscast | Facebook page

For more legal news check the Paper Chase Archive...


LATEST LEGAL NEWS

 US House votes for 20-week abortion ban
3:57 PM ET, June 19

 UK Supreme Court allows families of Iraq soldiers to sue government
2:28 PM ET, June 19

 AI: China mining companies contributing to Congo rights abuses
12:51 PM ET, June 19

 click for more...

Get JURIST legal news delivered daily to your e-mail!

LATEST FORUM

Is Egypt's Stance on the Blue Nile Dam Legally Justified?
DOMESTIC
Zeray Yihdego
University of Aberdeen School of Law

ABOUT

Paper Chase is JURIST's real-time legal news service, powered by a team of 30 law student reporters and editors led by law professor Bernard Hibbitts at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. As an educational service, Paper Chase is dedicated to presenting important legal news and materials rapidly, objectively and intelligibly in an accessible, ad-free format.

CONTACT

Paper Chase welcomes comments, tips and URLs from readers. E-mail us at JURIST@jurist.org