Amid the legions of journalists, diplomats, aid workers and security guards in Kabul, Grant Kippen cuts an unassuming figure. He is head of Afghanistan’s Electoral Complaints Commission, and the country’s future now lies largely in his hands.
The commission is in charge of sifting through the hundreds of allegations of fraud in the presidential election — especially those covering the southern provinces, where Taleban threats and attacks severely depleted turnout and monitoring was barely possible. Until Mr Kippen, a Canadian, below, and his team have investigated all the serious allegations it will remain unclear whether President Karzai has won outright or will face a run-off with Abdullah Abdullah.
It can be a thankless task: after Mr Kippen disqualified a candidate in the parliamentary elections held in 2005, angry crowds protested outside, some shouting: “Death to Kippen!”.
He knows that the commission is probably the only institution with a hope of preventing the country erupting into violence between supporters of Mr Karzai — an ethnic Pashtun — and Dr Abdullah, who is half-Pashtun and half-Tajik.
“This is a huge responsibility,” Mr Kippen told The Times when asked if he felt under political pressure and in danger. “We’ll just do the job we need to do. If we come under pressure, then we’ll just have to deal with it.”
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On paper, the commission holds considerable powers: it can invalidate results or order ballots to be held again at certain polling stations, and the final certified results cannot be released without its approval. It can also initiate an investigation — even if it has not received a complaint — and has already done so in the province of Kandahar.
Diplomats have been trying to raise its profile, anxious to prevent a wholesale loss of faith in Afghan democracy. Kai Eide, the UN envoy in Kabul, stated recently that the commission had his full confidence.