Blog Post #2 - The Globe and Mail

The article I read this week was from the Globe and Mail.

The article is about the recent August election in Afghanistan and the possibility of a new election due to election fraud in the first. President Hamid Karzai and his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, are not happy about the prospect of another election. There is talk the two men might form a coalition to avoid a second election, but neither side will confirm whether that would happen. The Election Complaint Commission has confirmed voter fraud and vote rigging. The fear is now that Karzai will not accept the results of the commission's findings.

Another problem is the logistical nightmare of setting up another election. Adding to the problem is the fear that voters who came out in the first election will stay away from the second election, as the Taliban had warned people not to vote and dealt violently with those who did.

The Globe and Mail, interviewed a lot of Afghans who, despite the threats of the Taliban, were keen to have another election if fraud was committed. Many said that security for voters was a big concern and that more international observers were needed to monitor the election. The article concludes that all presidential candidate were engaged in voter fraud and vote rigging to some extent and that Karzai is not personally responsible for rigging the election.

In the opening paragraph the reporter uses a dash. In my own writing, I don't know that I have ever used a dash, so I was not familiar with its use. I looked it up in The Canadian Press Stylebook to find out how to use it.

I noticed throughout the article that when making second references to people, the reporter used the title Mr. followed by the person's last name. I was taught when referring to a person a second time to refer to them by last name only. Also, the addition of the title was not used consistently through the article. I'm not sure why the title was being used and I could not find an explanation in The Canadian Press Stylebook.