Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 771: To ask the Minister for Foreign Affairs his views on the recent election in Afghanistan; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38271/09]

Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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On 20 October, some two months after the first round of voting in the Afghanistan Presidential and provincial elections on 20 August, official results for the Presidential election were announced by the Independent Election Commission. Results are still awaited in the provincial elections.

On the basis of preliminary results released in mid-September, President Karzai had declared himself the outright winner in the Presidential election, on the grounds that these results appeared to show that he had won more than the 50%+ of the vote required to avoid a second round run-off. However, the official results released on 20 October, which took on board the substantial number of votes invalidated by the Electoral Complaints Commission, showed that neither President Karzai nor his closest rival, former Foreign Minister, Dr Abdullah Abdullah, had secured more than the 50% necessary to avoid a run-off. On this basis, a second round of voting was scheduled to take place on 7 November. This vote was, however, cancelled on 2 November, following Dr Abdullah's withdrawal from the contest on 31 October, and President Karzai has been declared the winner of the election.

I am deeply dismayed by the extent of the irregularities and fraud which surrounded the August Presidential election. The EU Election Observation Mission was among the first of those monitoring the elections to report concerns in this respect. That irregularities and fraud occurred on a very large scale was subsequently confirmed by the Electoral Complaints Commission, which invalidated roughly one quarter of the votes investigated and one third of President Karzai's previously estimated total. Some reassurance, however, may be found in the fact that Afghan institutions - the Electoral Complaints Commission in particular – were prepared to expose the fraud, to ensure that a fraudulent outcome did not result in the unchallenged victory of one of the candidates, and to insist on a second round of voting, in accordance with the Afghan Constitution.

The situation in Afghanistan remains a very difficult one, with many challenges to be faced. The country needs a credible, effective and accountable Government. It will be important that President Karzai loses no time in demonstrating effective leadership to provide the people of Afghanistan with security, stability, justice, basic services and security of livelihood. The international community has pledged to support Afghanistan in this task and, despite the very grave difficulties, it remains important for this international support to continue, both for the Afghan people and for the security of our own societies.