| | David Miliband looks to Afghanistan unity government Times Online
09/11/2009
By Philip Webster
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David Miliband hinted today that the West is hoping that a government of national unity emerges from the discredited Afghan presidential elections.
For the first time the Foreign Secretary suggested that both President Karzai and his main challenger, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, represented the views of Afghan voters.
His remarks suggested that the Government believes a "consensus administration" is a preferable alternative to the solution now backed by the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats of the elections being run again.
Mr Miliband declared, however, that Britain would not be party to a "whitewash".
Neither Britain nor America is expected to call openly for a national unity government in Kabul, which would be seen as a direct interference in the Afghan democratic process.
But in their conversation yesterday Gordon Brown and Barack Obama both referred to the need for the parties there to achieve consensus on issues such as security and the economy. Officials admit that may best be achieved by a unity government.
In a BBC radio interview, Mr Miliband said that “free and fair” was not a description he would use about last month’s presidential election and he held back from recognising any candidate as the winner.
Preliminary results issued in Afghanistan earlier this week suggested that incumbent president Hamid Karzai achieved the 50-per cent threshold required to avoid a second round ballot, but they have been denounced as rigged by Dr Abdullah, Mr Karzai's former foreign minister.
Mr Miliband suggested today that a “credible” future administration in Kabul would have to reflect the high levels of support won by Dr Abdullah.
He was speaking after reports cast fresh doubt on the reported results of voting in a town at the centre of a military offensive this summer in which 10 British soldiers died. One of the stated aims of Operation Panther’s Claw was to make fair elections possible in areas of Helmand province previously held by the Taleban, including the town of Babaji.
But the BBC reported that recounts have been ordered in three of Babaji’s polling stations where President Karzai recorded a vote share of more than 96 per cent.
Some 4,300 votes were counted in the town’s four polling stations, but an unnamed United Nations-appointed observer told the BBC that no more than 15 people voted at the station he attended, with Taleban shelling going on nearby.
“I estimate about half the people in that area would have voted for President Karzai, but no more than that - certainly nowhere near 100 per cent,” said the observer.
Mr Miliband told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “We have been careful not to make any claims about the election until all the aspects are fully investigated. We will not be party to any whitewash in respect of this election. It is vital that there is a credible result that comes out of these elections.”
He added: “I think the new government can be a legitimate and credible expression of the will of the Afghan people.
“We never use the phrase ’free and fair elections’ because that is not really appropriate. Millions of people came out to vote. Their votes need to be properly recorded and acknowledged and their votes need to decide the shape of the new Afghan government.”
Mr Miliband said it was clear from the elections that President Karzai and Dr Abdullah between them represent “the vast majority of Afghan voters”, adding: “It is their ideas and their reforms that need to help shape the future of Afghanistan and a credible government needs to show that.”
He added that the UN-appointed Electoral Complaints Commission was showing itself to be a “strong” watchdog.
“If President Karzai is adduced by the Electoral Complaints Commission to have reached the 50-per cent threshold, he will be elected president,” he said.
“If he doesn’t, there will have to be a second round. Whatever the result, it is clear that opinion in Afghanistan is divided. Millions of people came out for President Karzai, but millions also came out for Dr Abdullah.
“For us in Britain, the absolute key is that the new government is, first, credible and also has a clear programme in the three areas that will decide the future of Afghanistan - its security forces, its ability to achieve political reconciliation and its ability to build the economy, above all in agriculture.”
The Foreign Secretary acknowledged that one of the goals of Panther’s Claw was to permit polling in Helmand province, but insisted that the operation would have taken place even if there was no election being held.
“It was vital for the elections that the Panther’s Claw operation went ahead, but it would have needed to go ahead anyway to help secure Helmand province,” he said.
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