"Rig it so it doesn't look suspicious, I said. And what happens? In districts I had no show I win in a landslide, and in my own strongholds it's touch and go..." 3 September 2009

Cartoon shows Hamid Karzai, the prime minister elect of Afghanistan, standing surrounded by voting papers and looking at election results. The official beside him is taken aback when Karzai criticises him for the botched rigging of the election which gives Karzai a landslide in districts in which he had no show and a touch and go result in his own stronghold. United Nations monitors said they had found "clear and convincing evidence" of fraud and election officials ordered a recount of thousands of disputed ballot papers. However by passing the 50% threshold Karzai may avoid a second round. After first rushing to praise the poll, diplomats have become shocked by the scale and audacity of rigging which threatens to invalidate an election the West paid for in the blood of soldiers killed in the security operation as well as an outlay of nearly #150 million.

Quantity: 1 digital cartoon(s).