Afghan tribal adviser says most polls fair so far

By Brian Williams

KABUL, May 12 (Reuters) - An Afghan tribal expert said on Sunday most first-round elections for delegates to pick the country's future leadership had been trouble-free, although there had been fraud attempts in some of the polls held so far.

Shahzadah Masood, Afghan leader Hamid Karzai's top adviser on tribal affairs, said fraud involving bribery and threats of violence had been reported in up to 10 percent of the polls.

He was speaking on the eve of the four-week countdown to the start of the Loya Jirga, or grand tribal council, Afghanistan's unique way of deciding its next government.

The current elections will pick delegates for the colorful meeting, which will be held in a huge tent in the capital Kabul from June 10 to 16.

"...in about five to 10 percent of cases there have been some difficulties involving use of money and use of force," Masood, the Interim Administration's adviser on tribal affairs, told Reuters in an interview.

A total of 1,500 delegates will participate in the Loya Jirga. It will either endorse Karzai's US and Western-backed government or choose new leaders to take the country to full scale elections in 18 months time.

Participants include about 500 so-called selected delegates chosen by government authorities with international advice because of their influence in society. The group was picked also to ensure there is a fair representation of groups like women, academics and business leaders.

MORE THAN 400 DISTRICTS

By the end of June, more than 400 districts will have elected the 16,000 delegates who will then choose the 1,000 mainly tribal leaders to participate in the Loya Jirga with the 500 selected delegates.

Masood said about 5,000 of the 16,000 first round delegates, including 43 women, had been elected so far. There are 160 selected seats set aside for women.

All members of Karzai's present government and all provincial governors are automatically entitled to participate in the Loya Jirga. Candidates convicted of crimes, violence and human rights abuses, as well as illiterates, are barred.

Looking ahead to the Loya Jirga itself, Masood forecast about one percent, or just 15 of the elected delegates who made it to the grand tribal council, would have won their way through by bribes or intimidation.

"I see a very scant chance of people getting to the Loya Jirga through corruption," Masood said.

However, many U.N. officials, international aid workers and diplomats were far less optimistic, even though they praised the commitment of people like Masood and the Karzai government's determined efforts to ensure a fair poll.

"Afghanistan is a very rigid society and many local leaders have been in de facto power for nearly 30 years since the Soviet invasion," one international diplomat said.

"They are not going to be left out of the Loya Jirga without a fight. If two-thirds of the delegates are there fairly, that will be a good result."

Without a formal army or working police force to enforce fair play, there is little people like Masood and Karzai can do to address complaints about voter fraud except to appeal to people's honesty and use the good offices of tribal elders.

AREAS OF CONCERN

Quoting witnesses, Masood singled out two areas of particular concern because of bribery and intimidation.

They were the Ghorband Valley, just north of Kabul, and Moosa Khel district in Paktia Province bordering Pakistan, scene of this year's biggest ground battle of the war and where there have been frequent outbreaks of fighting between rival warlords.

But in a sign of the fear that hangs over some contests, Masood said: "Those people who informed me about these situations, for fear for their lives can't reveal the names of the warlords involved in these kinds of acts."

He was also brutally honest about the role money could play in the elections in a country where the vast majority of people live below the poverty line.

"There are some people who have a lot of Afghanis -- Afghan currency -- in our country. Even their own special local currency," he said.

"Some people have told me without a blush that if they are offered money to vote for a certain candidate, they will take the money."
   05/12/02 13:10 ET