Karzai agrees to run-off on Nov 7

[Naveed Yaseen]

KABUL: President Hamid Karzai agreed to face a second round of voting in Afghanistan’s disputed election on Tuesday after a UN-led fraud inquiry tossed out enough of his votes to trigger a run-off.

Karzai must face an election run-off against his main rival on Nov 7, officials said. The dispute around the Aug 20 vote has stoked tension between Karzai and the West and complicated US President Barack Obama’s decision on whether to send thousands more US troops to Afghanistan to fight a resurgent Taliban.

Obama, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and Nato Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen all welcomed Karzai’s decision to accept the run-off.

“It is now vital that all elements of Afghan society continue to come together to advance democracy, peace and justice,” Obama said in a statement. “We look forward to a second round of voting, and the completion of the process to choose the president of Afghanistan.” The White House said the president had taken no decision on whether to wait for the new poll before announcing a new strategy for Afghanistan. A decision would be taken “in the coming weeks”.

The Nov 7 election will pit Karzai once again against his main election rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah. After hours of closed-door talks with Western diplomats, Karzai appeared tense as he welcomed the ruling by the Afghan Independent Election Commission (IEC). The ruling cut his tally to 49.7 per cent from the preliminary first-round result of 54.6 per cent — below the 50 percent needed for an outright win. “We believe that this decision of the IEC is legitimate, legal and constitutional and that it strengthens the path towards democracy,” said Karzai, US Senator John Kerry by his side and UN Afghanistan envoy Kai Eide standing between them.

The IEC made its ruling after a separate UN-backed fraud panel invalidated tens of thousands of votes for Karzai this week. Karzai had earlier said the extent of fraud was exaggerated and expressed confidence in his first-round victory. Abdullah’s camp said they were prepared for the run-off. “We had hoped the president would accept the second round,” said his spokesman, Fazel Sangcharaki.

Security issues are also of concern at a time when the insurgency is at its strongest and winter approaches. “The Taliban no doubt will try their best to disrupt it,” said Waheed Mozhdah, an Afghan analyst.

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