GHAZNI GOVERNOR DISCUSSES ELECTION, FRAUD

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 KABUL 002527

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR SRAP, SCA/FO, SCA/A, EUR/RPM
STATE PASS USAID FOR ASIA/SCAA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 07/26/2019
TAGS: PGOV PREL AF
SUBJECT: GHAZNI GOVERNOR DISCUSSES ELECTION, FRAUD
ALLEGATIONS

Classified By: Interagency Provincial Affairs Deputy Coordinator Hoyt Y
ee for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d)


1. (C) Summary. Ghazni Governor Usman Usmani told the PRT on
August 23 that the election results from Pashtun-dominated
districts in Ghazni would be legitimate. While Ghazni has
received significant domestic and international media
attention over Abdullah's allegations of election fraud in
the province, Usmani dismissed these charges and noted his
belief that a second round of elections would not be
necessary. It is unclear whether Usmani, a strong Karzai
supporter, fully understands that any appearance of
implausible vote totals from Ghazni could give credence to
Abdullah's claims of pervasive fraud across the province.
End Summary.

Turn-Out an Issue in Heavily Pashtun Districts
--------------


2. (C) State PRT Reps met with Ghazni Governor Usman Usmani
at the PRT on August 23 to discuss the August 20 election and
the need to ensure the integrity of the vote count in Ghazni.
PRT Reps told Usmani that Ghazni had become a focus of
post-election wrangling, with Abdullah's accusations of voter
fraud given prominent coverage in international media
outlets. PRT stressed to Usmani that it was imperative that
the vote counts coming from Ghazni be accurate, and any
perceived manipulation of the vote totals or turnout numbers
would reflect poorly on the local IEC and Usmani's
governorship.


3. (C) In particular, State Reps noted that many
Pashtun-dominated districts of Ghazni (such as Rashidan,
Khogyani, Zana Khan) faced significant violence on election
day that resulted in the closure of numerous polling centers
(Note: The IEC itself had reported to us that nearly all
polling centers had been closed in Khogyani, and the Zana
Khan Sub-Governor told us that significant election day
violence had shut down voting in the district. End Note.)
This fact, coupled with Taliban intimidation, surely
significantly depressed turnout in these areas. The PRT
underscored that any inflated voter turnout numbers from
these areas would lend significant credence to election
challenges, and all responsible authorities, including
Usmani, must vigilantly guard against any effort to
manipulate the totals.


4. (C) Usmani told the PRT that he shared these concerns, and
confirmed that voter turnout in these districts was very low.
Usmani said he was confident that the IEC would report
accurate and low vote totals from the violent Pashtun
districts. Despite his assertions, Usmani cited "unofficial"
turnout numbers from some of the Pashtun districts, that
seemingly indicated that at least 60 percent of voters in
these areas went to the polls. Usmani also said that from
informal discussions with IEC officials, he believed
President Karzai received 95 percent of the vote in Ghazni's
Pashtun districts.

Second Round Not Necessary
--------------


5. (C) Usmani, a strong Karzai supporter, shared his view
that a second round of the election would not be necessary.
He told us that he had spoken the previous evening with
Marshal Fahim, who told him that the Karzai ticket had won
with 73 percent of the vote. Usmani reserved particular
venom for Abdullah, who the Governor asserted had "ignored
Ghazni" during the campaign and now claimed he "was Pashtun
just for the election." Usmani said that Abdullah's
supporters claimed that the governor had personally stuffed
ballot boxes in his own residence, a charge he dismissed,
asking, "Why would I do it in my own house?" Instead, Usmani
said, it was Abdullah's surrogates who were guilty of fraud,
and he claimed he had a video of Abdullah campaign workers
coercing voters at gunpoint in Nawur district. Usmani said
that Abdullah needed to "look at Afghanistan's history" to
see that an ethnic Tajik could never govern the country.
Usmani said that "80 percent of Pashtuns are quiet because of
the president," and that would not be the case if Abdullah
won the election.

Comment
--------------


6. (C) A Hazaran IEC official previously told us that ballot
stuffing did occur in the district centers in Khogyani,
Rashidan, Zanakhan and Andar. The PRT cannot independently
verify this as it, along with international and domestic

KABUL 00002527 002 OF 002


election observers, and campaign representatives were unable
to observe voting in these areas on election day due to the
security situation and the ISAF directive to keep coalition
forces away from polling sites. However, official vote
totals should give indication if this occurred, as any
assertion of moderate to heavy voter turnout in these
districts would be implausible. Though most of these
districts have relatively small populations and any fraud
would have to be gross in scope to more than marginally
affect the election, vote manipulation in these areas would
give credence to Abdullah's charges of fraud in Ghazni and
undermine the integrity of the vote in the province.
Hopefully, Usmani understands this, despite his strong
partisan affiliations with the Karzai camp.
EIKENBERRY