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Incumbent Karzai Leads Rivals in Afghanistan
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Three-in-ten Afghans are ready to support the incumbent president in this year’s ballot, according to a poll by the International Republican Institute. 31 per cent of respondents would vote for Hamid Karzai in the election.
Afghan-American professor Ali Ahmad Jalali is behind with 11 per cent, followed by independent candidate Abdullah Abdullah, a medical doctor, with seven per cent. Support is lower for Nangarhar province governor Gul Agha Sherzai, speaker of the House Yunus Qanuni, former attorney general Abdul Jabbar Sabet, former finance minister Ashraf Ghani, former planning minister Ramazan Bashardost, former pro-Soviet fighter general Abdul Rashind Dostum, former United States ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, former Afghan president Burhanudin Rabbani, former finance minister Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi, and current Balkh province governor Ata Mohammad Noor.
Afghanistan has been the main battleground in the war on terrorism. The conflict began in October 2001, after the Taliban regime refused to hand over Osama bin Laden, prime suspect in the 9/11 terrorist attacks in New York and Washington. Al-Qaeda operatives hijacked and crashed four airplanes on Sept. 11, 2001, killing nearly 3,000 people.
The United States-led Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) led by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) currently command the war on terrorism in Afghanistan.
Karzai has been Afghanistan’s president since November 2004, when he won the first-ever presidential election in the country with 55.4 per cent of all cast ballots. Before that, he headed an interim government for two years.
Bashardost, who is running as an independent on an anti-corruption platform, recently said that he is not in politics to help himself, declaring, "In my gut, I’d like to have a palace, girls and luxuries. But when I see the poverty here, I don’t want it. (…) My parents don’t like me. They want a luxurious life because their son is a former minister. They don’t believe an honest man can change the lives of Afghans."
The next presidential ballot is scheduled for Aug. 20.
Polling Data
If the presidential election was held today, for whom would you vote?
|
Hamid Karzai |
31% |
|
Ali Ahmad Jalali |
11% |
|
Abdullah Abdullah |
7% |
|
Gul Agha Sherzai |
4% |
|
Yunus Qanuni |
4% |
|
Abdul Jabbar Sabet |
3% |
|
Ashraf Ghani |
3% |
|
Ramazan Bashardost |
3% |
|
Abdul Rashind Dostum |
3% |
|
Zalmay Khalilzad |
2% |
|
Burhanudin Rabbani |
2% |
|
Anwar-ul-Haq Ahadi |
2% |
|
Ata Mohammad Noor |
2% |
|
Other candidates |
15% |
|
Not sure / Refused |
9% |
Source: International Republican Institute
Methodology: Face-to-face interviews with 3,200 Afghan adults, conducted from May 3 to May 16, 2009. Margin of error is 1.76 per cent.