Afghanistan's election authority complained Saturday about the calibre of some of the 44 candidates for the August 20 presidential polls, charging they were unknown and had no clear programme. All met the basic legal requirements but some had never even worked in an office, Independent Election Commission chief Azizullah Ludin told reporters.
"Most of them are unknown and they don't have any programmes for the future," he told a news conference announcing that all 44, who include two women, had passed the commission's initial vetting process. "In this list there are people who did not work for one hour in any office in his life, but they want to be president. The law allows them, we cannot prevent them," Ludin said.
He recounted an exchange with one would-be candidate. "(I asked him) 'What is your work background, are you educated?' (He replied) 'No, I am not.' 'Have you worked in any government office?' 'No, I did not.' "'Are you a religious scholar, have you been a mullah for any mosque?' 'No' 'What have you done?' 'I was fortune teller,'" the official cited the man as saying.
Ludin did not make it clear whether this man, whom he would not identify, was eventually one of the 44 to sign up to stand for election. He called on the media to inform Afghan people about "essential" standards for someone who would run the country.
Candidates for president have to meet basic requirements, such as being born in Afghanistan, having only Afghan citizenship and being older than 40. The public now have a week to file complaints against the 44 which would be ruled on before the final list of candidates is announced on June 12. Would-be candidates can be excluded if they have been convicted of crimes against humanity or criminal acts.
Among the strongest in the current field are President Hamid Karzai, who is standing for a second term, his former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. Other candidates include parliamentarians, a former attorney general, a policeman and an ex-Taliban commander. Eighteen people, including one woman, stood in the first presidential election on October 9, 2004 which Karzai won by 55.4 percent.