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KABUL — Afghanistan’s president has taken control of a formerly independent body that monitors election fraud, raising concern Tuesday that he’s reneging on promises to clean up corruption and cronyism — a pillar of the Obama administration’s plan to erode support for the Taliban.
President Hamid Karzai signed a decree last week giving him the power to appoint all members of the Electoral Complaints Commission, a group previously dominated by U.N. appointees that uncovered massive fraud on behalf of Karzai in last year’s presidential election.
The decree suggests that Karzai wants to tighten control of the electoral process ahead of parliamentary balloting in September.
The Associated Press
