KABUL, Afghanistan – Only about one-third of Kabul’s registered voters cast ballots in legislative elections, an official said Thursday – a turnout that suggests disillusionment with the U.S.-backed government and the pace of rebuilding after a quarter-century of war.
Reports from nearly all polling centers across Afghanistan indicate some 6.6 million voters cast ballots, which would put national turnout at about 53 percent, said Peter Erben, chief electoral officer of the U.N.-Afghan body that organized the polls. But he estimated turnout in Kabul and the surrounding province was just 36 percent.
The indication that national turnout dropped significantly from 70 percent in last October’s presidential election had already become a needling footnote to the international community’s celebratory script, which cast Afghanistan’s first elections for a national assembly in more than three decades as a key step toward democracy.
Many Afghans embraced the opportunity with enthusiasm.
But the low turnout in the capital – which accounts for just under 10 percent of the country’s 12.4 million registered voters – amplifies another message from the people: Move fast to rebuild, boost the economy and improve security, or risk embittering those who already feel bypassed by the changes since the ouster of the Taliban in late 2001.
In Washington, President Bush called the election “positive news for the world.”
“Our mission in Afghanistan is not yet complete. The international community is helping Afghanistan become a lasting democracy,” Bush said.
“There are still terrorists who seek to overthrow the young government. You see, they want to return Afghanistan to what it was under the Taliban: a miserable place.”
Sarah Lister, head of the Afghan Research Evaluation Unit, an independent Kabul-based research group, said Kabul residents might have had higher expectations for improvement following President Hamid Karzai’s election, then felt let down when change was not as swift as they hoped.
“There is no work, no security, no law,” said shopkeeper Abdul Satar.
Human rights activists have said fears of violence, anger over warlords on the ballot and distrust of politicians may have kept people away.
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