Karzai emerges weaker in Afghanistan poll results

Afghanistan has released most of the results from its parliamentary election, with the main opponent of President Hamid Karzai quickly announcing that his supporters had won more than 90 seats in the 249-member chamber.

Reuters/Ahmad Masood

Turnout was around 40 percent in Afghanistan's second parliamentary election since the Taliban was toppled in 2001.

Opposition figure Abdullah Abdullah said the success of his supporters will enable him to pressure Karzai "to bring reforms, positive changes, and to implement and strengthen the rule of law".

Analysts agree Karzai’s support base in the new parliament would weaken, with reports that a significant number of his favoured candidates did not do well.

The results follow a massive election fraud that saw nearly a quarter of votes cancelled
and 24 winners disqualified.

The Independent Election Commission declared the vote a major success although it disqualified a further three candidates who won seats according to preliminary results.

It named winners of 238 seats, leaving 11 still unconfirmed due to "technical problems" from the southern province of Ghazni, where Afghanistan's largest ethnic group, the Pashtuns, apparently suffered a crushing defeat.

Preliminary results gave ethnic Hazaras all 11 seats in the province, a flashpoint in the nine-year Taliban insurgency.

The poll took place on 18 September but certification took much longer to process than expected because of lengthy investigations into widespread corruption.

The majority of the 2,514 people who ran were independent candidates.