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Woman critic of warlords wins seat in Afghan election
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A 27-year-old woman critic of Afghanistan's powerful warlords won one of the first seats declared yesterday in provisional results from landmark parliamentary elections, a key step in the nation's transition to democracy.
The UN-Afghan election body reported "serious" cases of fraud, including the stuffing of ballots into boxes after polling day. It excluded 299 polling stations from the vote count, but declared the Sept 18 poll was still credible.
In Kabul, the election body declared unofficial winners for national and provincial assembly seats in two of the country's 34 provinces, Farah and Nimroz, and said most of the other results would be released in the coming week.
Final, certified results are expected by late October after what officials predict will be a frenetic complaints period.
"I'm very happy and thankful for Afghan men and women who voted for me," said Malalai Joya, 27, a women's rights worker from Farah, who polled second in the race for the province's five seats in the 249-seat Wolesi Jirga, or National Assembly.
"My first priority when I go to parliament will be peace, security and stability, and to collect all the guns from warlords," she told The Associated Press.
Joya rose to prominence after daring to denounce powerful warlords at a post-Taliban constitutional convention two years ago. Despite concerted UN-backed efforts to disarm militia leaders, they remain a dominant force in much of Afghanistan. A quarter of the seats are reserved for women in a bid to adjust the heavily patriarchal slant of Afghan politics.
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