By Martin Gerner
Foreign media, especially from donor countries that have been much engaged in Afghanistan in the past years or from neighboring countries traditionally of importance, have widely saluted the courage of the Afghan people to participate in great numbers in the election and perform their democratic right. "Afghanistan presidential election hit by unexpected problem – too many voters“, the headline of the British Guardian says, somehow surprised of the way a majority of Afghans braved security and other threats. And the BBC to add that „the enemies of Afghanistan have failed“. „Afghans defy Taliban threat to vote in droves“, The Hindustan Times from India writes, the world's statistically largest democracy. India will be holding national elections in a few days from here as well. "I want to be a part of this revolution and show we love democracy", the Hindustan Times quotes a citizen from Kandahar, a former Taliban fiefdom. The New York Times notes „that militants have failed to mount a single major attack anywhere in Afghanistan by the time polls closed“, while the Iranian Press TV online notes that „over 7 million vote in Afghanistan elections despite security issues“. The Dawn, Pakistan's influential daily, sees "Afghans hail a peaceful election with high turnout". In Europe, German national weekly Der Spiegel observes that „Afghans mock all threats to go out and vote despite rain and cold", quoting the German minister for development policy lauding the „great progresses made in Afghanistan“. Die Zeit, another German weekly, points at a transparent counting process as major challenge ahead for the next days, noting that two of the major candidates have already claimed fraud to their disadvantage.