The vote to replace Afghan president Hamid Karzai is underway. <br /><br /> It is the first democratic transfer of power since the fall of a Taliban regime in 2001.<br /><br /> Voting was mostly peaceful in the first few hours with only isolated attacks on polling stations.<br /><br /> The most serious attack was an explosion at a polling station in the southeastern province of Logar in which four voters were wounded.<br /><br /> In the northern province of Faryab police said they had arrested a would-be suicide bomber trying to enter a polling station, while in Ghazni, in the southeast, several rockets were fired but landed far from a voting centre. <br /><br /> Taliban insurgents have vowed to derail the process, branding it a US-backed sham.<br /><br /> In Kabul, voter Mohammad Zaki explained why he was taking part: “I came here today to vote and chose the leader of Afghanistan. I believe that the future of Afghanistan is in the hands of the young generation, that is why I’m participating. There is no security concern.”<br /><br /> Karzai himself said: “I urge the people of Afghanistan once again to come out and vote for their candidate, despite the cold and the rain and the threats by our enemy.”<br /><br /> Karzai is barred by Afghanistan’s constitution from running for the presidency again. But, after 12 years in power, he is widely expected to retain influence through politicians loyal to him.<br /><br /> They make up the favourites in this election, including two former foreign ministers – Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmay Rassoul – and former finance minister Ashraf Ghani<br /><br /> The 12 million eligible voters – out of a population of 30 million – have eight candidates to chose from.<br /><br /> The voting has been taking place amid massive security with 350,000 Afghan troops on duty, guarding against attacks on polling stations and voters. <br /><br /> The hope is the election will be better run than the chaotic 2009 vote that handed Karzai a second term amid massive fraud and ballot stuffing.<br /><br /> If no one candidate gets over 50 percent of the votes there will be a second poll at the end of May, and it could take months – perhaps even until October – for a winner to be declared.<br /><br /> Although Karzai’s departure is a turning point for Afghanistan, none of his would-be successors would bring radical change, Western diplomats has said.<br /><br /> A long delay could leave a political vacuum in which the Taliban could gain ground.<br /><br /> It would also leave little time to complete a pact between Kabul and Washington to keep up to 10,000 US troops in the country, to back Afghan forces in the fight against the Taliban.
