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David Cameron has privately condemned the Afghanistan election for “naked” voting fraud.
The Tory leader's comments, picked up by a BBC camera, could open a major gulf between him and Gordon Brown.
The Tory leader was heard saying: “The things that seem to have happened are so naked, you just saw the number of votes and the number of people who actually turned up at polling stations. It just could not be right.”
Mr Cameron was talking to shadow foreign secretary William Hague in a room at the Imagination Centre in London, shortly before giving a speech yesterday.
Mr Hague compared the situation with the 1979 elections in Nigeria, saying “this is the same sort of thing”.
The Tory leader replied: “We should be very clear about that.” His comment suggests he may refuse to recognise a victory for sitting president Hamid Karzai.
But Britain's ambassador to Afghanistan, Mark Sedwill, today said a clear election result should be respected.
He said: “We always knew there would be a lot of irregularity. That was inevitable. This country is going through a lot of growing pains. If president Karzai has 51 per cent then he has won.”
Reports from independent election monitors have revealed widespread voting fraud.
More than 2,000 claims of fraud have been logged by the Elections Complaints Commission in Afghanistan during a lengthy contest, including
one tribe that alleges 30,000 votes were wrongful counted for President Karzai.
The apparent fraud is highly embarrassing to Britain and America, who are despairing at the Karzai regime's behaviour but who have no choice but to deal with it.
Reader views (2)
So has Cameron come round to introducing PR?
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex, 09/09/2009 19:46
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No doubt Cameron would prefer the kind of fraud that we have in the UK, where he can take hold of absolute power while only having 40% or less of the vote.
Or the kind of fraud that allows (foreign?) millionaires like Lord Ashcroft to pump millions of pounds into swinging the election for him.
No more Labour or Conservative minority dictatorships pandering to their special interest groups, please. Proportional representation now!
- Robert C, London, electorally retarded UK, 09/09/2009 12:45
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