Many Afghans Complain Of Hastily Set Elections

"We are sacrificing our elections for the November election in America -- otherwise there is no reason to have our election in such a hurry," contended Ahmadzai, 60, a wealthy businessman. "Mr. Bush wants to show, 'I am a hero and had the election in Afghanistan.' They are forcing everything for their own election and not for the poor Afghans."

Other observers argued that there is no perfect time to hold an election in a country recovering from decades of war and that even a messy, flawed election would bring the Afghan government needed legitimacy.

"Is it going to be an election like we're used to in a Western democracy? Probably not. But it's a first step," said Grant Kippen, country director for the congressionally funded National Democratic Institute, which is helping with preparations. "I look at it more as a process rather than an event. We need to send a signal to a whole bunch of groups -- the ordinary citizens, the Taliban and al Qaeda, the government -- that we're serious about Afghanistan and helping them."

One thing observers agree on is that incumbency gives Karzai a formidable advantage over his challengers. He is known around the entire country and dominates the state-run media.

In a recent public opinion poll conducted in Afghanistan by the Asia Foundation, a U.S.-based nongovernmental group, 62 percent of respondents gave Karzai a favorable job-approval rating, and he received an 85 percent personal popularity rating. However, in southern Afghanistan, the Pashtun heartland where Karzai has his roots, his approval rating was only 35 percent, while 46 percent said he was doing a fair or poor job.

While he is widely credited with restoring stability to many parts of the country, Karzai is faulted for not having improved economic conditions for ordinary Afghans despite a massive influx of foreign aid.

"I prefer Karzai," said Shah Mohammad, 29, a fruit vendor in a northern Kabul neighborhood populated largely by ethnic Tajiks. "He hasn't created any jobs, but he's secured the country."

Another man, Shuja Mohammad, also 29, said he would vote for Yonus Qanooni, an ethnic Tajik former cabinet member who may be Karzai's strongest challenger. As for Karzai, he said, "If he was able to do something, he would have done it in the last two years."

That is precisely the kind of sentiment that Karzai's rivals hope to tap.

"The situation is degrading. The gap between the people and the government is growing larger every day," said Homayun Shah Asefi, a French-trained lawyer and former diplomat whose connections to Afghanistan's former king could enable him to challenge Karzai among Pashtun voters.

Ahmadzai, the other main Pashtun candidate, said: "Corruption is very high. If you collect all the corruption in the world, it wouldn't come close to Afghanistan."

He added, "When I list the defects of the government, every Afghan knows this -- that is why I am optimistic I can win."

Whether such calculations mean anything to the many poor Afghans with little formal education is hard to gauge. Many scarcely know what an election is, never having experienced one.

"We heard they will put a lot of boxes beside each other and tell us to put a card in the box for whoever we like," said Mohamed Shafi, a 57-year-old from Mazar-e Sharif who was selling melons from a kiosk in Kabul.

Asked about democracy, he replied: "Democracy means freedom, and do whatever you want."