Opinion poll suggests Hamid Karzai will struggle to reach 50% winning post in August

[Gin ka Pakistan]

Source: "guardian.co.uk"


Opinion poll suggests Hamid Karzai will struggle to reach 50% winning post in August presidential election

According to the poll of 3,200 Afghans from across the country, Karzai can expect to receive 33% of the vote – well below the half of all votes required to win in the first round of the election, on 20 August. In the last election, in 2004, Karzai won with 54%.

More alarmingly for Karzai, his support in the south of the country, the heartlands of the dominant Pashtun ethnic group and the president's power base, has dropped sharply since 2004, according to the poll by the International Republican Institute, an independent organisation that promotes democracy and receives funding from the US government.

Countrywide, 50% of Pashtuns surveyed said they voted for Karzai last time, but only 26% supported him now.

Despite the confirmation of Karzai's widespread unpopularity, the candidates standing against him did even worse.

Of his two most formidable opponents, Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, was picked by 7% of people, while Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister, was supported by 3%.

 

[muse]

Run off -- Karzai vs Ashraf Ghani -- If Ashraf Ghani can get through and actually get Pashtuns to participate eagerly in large numbers, Karzai may have serious problem, on the other hand he's covered himself by hooking Fahim as a Vice President