Vote-rigging rumours dog Afghan answer to 'Pop Idol'

Published on Sunday 15 March 2009 22:43

VOTE-rigging, corruption and talk of a tribal divide – Kabul's bazaars are alive with plots and intrigue. But for once it's not presidential elections on everybody's lips: it's Afghanistan's version of Pop Idol.

With less than a week to go until the final of Afghan Star, 2009, journalists demanded answers yesterday to allegations that the phone polls had been hijacked using thousands of black market mobile phones.

Such is the passion surrounding Afghanistan's most popular TV show – almost 11 million people watched last year's final – that many fans are convinced contestants have bought sackloads of SIM cards to increase their voting power.

Most Afghans take it as read that presidential candidates pay off tribal elders and power brokers to deliver votes. So why should a talent show be any different?

"These are just rumours started by people who have been knocked out," said finalist Navid Frogh. He and Mehran Gulzar are the last two left in the competition.

"Even if I bought 200,000 SIM cards, it's nothing compared to the votes in Kabul," said Mr Gulzar.

Their answers echo those of western election officials supporting the country's presidential polls, scheduled for 20 August. "There's bound to be some corruption," said one. "But hopefully it won't be enough to change the result."

A SIM card in Kabul costs around 1.50: this is considerably less than the 10 tribal elders may get paid for every favourable vote they "deliver", in the presidential election, candidates have revealed. Around 65 per cent of people vote according to edicts from tribal elders and community leaders.

The mobile phone company, Roshan, which sponsors Afghan Star, said it had received almost 1.9 million votes for the show this season. Although Frogh and Gulzar both deny foul play, their fans are more pragmatic.

"I bought four SIM cards," said Hakimullah, a 39-year-old father-of-six. "They were selling them cheap, so I bought four and voted for Gulzar. So did my son."

When it comes to Afghan Star, both finalists insist they are passionate democrats.

"One vote can make all the difference," said Frogh. Yet neither of them have registered to vote in the presidential polls, and registration centres in Kabul are now closed.

Almost eight years after the US-led invasion which toppled the Taleban, many Afghans have embraced their country's new-found freedoms. Dozens of television stations, newspapers and magazines have been launched. Indian soap operas are must-see TV for millions of people.

But, at the same time, many people are disillusioned with the western intervention, the "democracy" it promised, and the government it delivered.

"Hamid Karzai can't lead the country," said Frogh. "People are still very poor."

The government has been dogged by allegations of "state-sanctioned corruption", and gross inefficiency, but no clear favourite to unseat Mr Karzai has yet emerged from among his challengers.

That Frogh and Gulzar are both Kabul men, from Afghanistan's second largest ethnic group, the Tajiks, reflects voting patterns in Afghan society. Most people vote along ethnic lines.

WOMEN STRUGGLE IN STAR SEARCH

TOLO, the television station which owns Afghan Star, broadcasts in Persian, appealing mainly to Tajiks, Hazara and Uzbek people.

The show also reflects the vastly unequal position of women in Afghan society.

This is the fourth season of Afghan Star, yet a woman has never made it to the finals.

Last year, a woman from the southern city of Kandahar made it into the final three, but she faced strong opposition from conservative clerics.