As voting draws to a close in Afghanistan, all eyes are on President Hamid Karzai’s large palace in Kabul. Will he manage to win the second election in the country’s history?

Explosions are heard near a Kabul bank. Three intruders are killed after a lengthy gun battle. Their bodies are pushed into a police car and taken away. The Afghan government announced they were just ordinary criminals, but the Taliban quickly replied that they were their men.

Meanwhile, people are trying just to get on with their lives in the troubled capital and are asking themselves what tomorrow, polling day itself, will bring. Many think the outcome has already been decided through political horse-trading. Afghans believe the Americans have already forced through their choice.

Listen to Hans Jaap Melissen's report for Newsline:

Bribery
Afghan leaders, however, know better than anyone how to try and get your hands on power before the event. President Karzai is trying to bribe people up to the last moment, just like his rivals. But, which side will most Afghans choose, if they dare make the journey to the polling stations tomorrow?

Backrooms
Many of the 23 presidential candidates have no chance. They are taking part on behalf of their clans in order to have some influence on the deals to be made by the new rulers. Already, promises are being given, ministerial portfolios pledged and other inducements offered. In a country where, no workable institutions have been set up since the US-led invasion eight years ago, this sort of backroom talk remains the only way of securing your own future.

Abdullah
Mr Karzai’s only serious contender is Abdullah Abdullah, the son of a Pashtun father and Tajik mother. He was President Karzai’s foreign minister for a lengthy period, but the men fell out and he now wants the top job for himself. Mr Karzai has already offered him a job in the new cabinet, but for the time being they remain rivals. One Abdullah supporter thinks the outcome is clear: Mr Karzai will win but will have to pay for his votes.

"Karzai is a bad man, who is surrounding himself with more and more ‘advisers’. They get lots of money, but where are the factories and jobs for ordinary people?"

Fake ballots
Mr Abdullah says he is worried the election will not be fair even though there are indications that he is also involved in bribery. Kabul’s electoral complaints commission has received hundreds of allegations from all kinds of people and is concerned about irregularities: fake ballots can be found everywhere and men have registered women as voters, while the women are nowhere to be seen.

Peter Lepsch, a member of the complaints commission, foresees all sorts of strange things happening on polling day.

"Right now it would be hard to speculate ...probably misuse of government resources, misconduct of government officials. It will probably mirror a lot of things that happened during the campaign period.”

Despite the corruption, people still hope Afghanistan’s second election will prove a progressive phase for this country torn apart by war. Jahid Mohseni, who shares this hope, is CEO of a major television station in Afghanistan, Tolo TV. He hopes Afghan politics will develop.

"There's some fundamental shifts that we need to have as a nation. Much of our discussions are still based around personalities versus policies. So a lot of people start campaigning based on who they rather than trying to give to people"

After Thursday’s ballots have been cast, lots of international observers will attempt to monitor the count. The first results are expected on 3 September. Mr Abdullah’s supporters on the streets of Kabul say that, if the poll is free and fair, Mr Karzai does not stand a chance. “We back Abdullah, the former mujahadeen, the man who’s always fought for Afghanistan. We expect him to carry on that fight when he becomes the new president.”