Kabul : Afghanistan's President Hamid Karzai has agreed to reverse an earlier decision and allow two foreigners on a commission monitoring upcoming parliamentary elections, his spokesman said yesterday.
Karzai's move comes amid pressure to avoid a repeat of last year's fraud-tainted presidential vote.
Last month, Karzai signed a decree allowing him to appoint all five members of the Electoral Complaints Commission in consultation with parliamentary leaders and the head of the Supreme Court. The body previously had three UN appointees.
The decree was criticised as a bid to control the body, which stripped Karzai of nearly one-third of his votes last year after complaints of ballot stuffing. Karzai was forced into a runoff but was declared the victor after his remaining challenger dropped out of the race.
Yesterday, Karzai's spokesman Waheed Omar told reporters the president is now willing to accept some foreigners on the watchdog body because the country is in a "transitional phase" to democracy.
"The Afghan government has shown its readiness to accept two non-Afghans on the Electoral Complaints Commission and this has been announced to the United Nations," Omar said.
However, he said the monitoring body would still be controlled by Afghans, who would hold a majority vote.
Holding credible elections is considered key to establishing the legitimacy of the Afghan government, a key component of the new Nato strategy in the fight against Taliban insurgents who have gained ground since the 2001 US-led invasion that toppled their hard-line Islamist regime.
Government corruption is often cited as a major reason why many Afghans have turned to the Taliban.
Yesterday, a new United Nations mission chief arrived in Kabul to take up his post after a difficult year that saw the mission divided over election fraud and forced to cut back staff after a deadly attack.
Italian-Swedish diplomat Staffan De Mistura, who has previously held the same role in Iraq, promised to help improve the lives of ordinary Afghans while respecting the sovereignty of their government.
"The Afghan people have suffered a lot and have endured a lot of difficult times. They deserve international support, but they deserve above all a better future. And the UN will do its part," he told reporters at Kabul's airport after his arrival.
Proud people
"I am totally aware of the fact that the Afghan people are very proud people, very attached to their own sovereignty and independence, and I will be working along those lines," he said.
"Whatever the UN will be doing — and we will be doing what we can in order to assist both the stability and the socio-economic improvement of the Afghan people — it will be done remembering that it should be Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and in total respect of their own sovereignty."
The UN mission in Kabul suffered last year from a public quarrel between its outgoing head, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, and his American deputy, Peter Galbraith, who accused Eide of trying to cover up massive fraud in the vote that ultimately saw Karzai re-elected.
Eide denied trying to cover up fraud and Galbraith was fired.
In the end, a five-member watchdog that included three members appointed by Eide threw out nearly a third of votes cast for Karzai, forcing a second-round run-off which was cancelled when Karzai's opponent withdrew.
