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Article: America's boy done good; Afghanistan.(Hamid Karzai wins a presidential poll)
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- October 30, 2004
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2004 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Hamid Karzai must now put his electoral victory to good use
HE HAS been branded an American stooge, yet most Afghans approve of him anyway. With 99% of the vote counted in Afghanistan's first presidential election, Hamid Karzai had won 55% of the vote, 39 points more than his nearest rival. His victory was expected to be formally declared on October 31st, pending the results of an investigation into the election's many flaws and the arrival of the last weary UN donkey, bearing a ballot-box in from the wilds.
In an 18-man field, Mr Karzai's win was impressive. Only three of his opponents got more than 2% of the vote. And only one of those, Yunus Qanuni, a ...