Afghans take step to democracy

Published October 20, 2004

In explaining why he was withdrawing his demand that the election results be annulled, Yunus Qanuni, a leading candidate for the presidency of Afghanistan, said: "We want the feelings of the people to be appreciated."

In saying this, Qanuni was being a smart politician. He was keeping himself in step with popular opinion. He was improving his bargaining prospects with the election's certain winner,...