Afghan presidential elections: a mirror of self-deception

Judgement over the 20 August Afghan elections has varied widely among observers. The most critical has been the Free and Fair Election Foundation, which reported widespread fraud. The EU observers, by contrast, judged that the elections were ‘free and fair’ despite widespread violence. Most diplomats congratulated Afghanistan over a voter turnout estimated at 40-50%, which despite being well below the official 70% of 2004 is believed to be acceptable in the face of ‘widespread’ violence.