Article Archive

President Hamid Karzai could not have wished for an easier path to victory, now that Dr Abdullah Abdullah has decided to withdraw from the second round of the Afghan presidential election.

When Dr Abdullah said that his decision was made “in the best interests of the country” he truly meant what he was saying.

President Karzai’s spokesman Waheed Omar obviously wants the second round to take place, but a run-off  may be more problematic than people realise.

I was very surprised by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s comments that a runoff with only one candidate would not necessarily threaten the legitimacy of the process.

“There have been other examples in our country and around the world where in a runoff election one of the parties decides for a reason that they are not going to go on,” she said.

Well, the difference between the unnamed example she made reference to in the United States is that no American general election has been subject to allegations of widespread electoral fraud- depending on whether you consider the Bush v Gore recount worthy of the term “electoral fraud.”

Mr Karzai will face a weakening of his legitimacy once the electoral process comes to an end. If Karzai wins a large majority of the vote, he will look illegitimate in the eyes of many of his opponents and those of the European governments and of the Obama administration.

A runoff will not suddenly wipe away the widespread fraud that undermined the results of the first round.

Supporters of Dr Abdullah may use direct and indirect forms of action, such as protests and ironically abstaining from voting to vent their anger at their candidate being forced to pull out.

The international community must stand together to call a halt to the runoff on November 7. Dr Abdullah Abdullah is more likely to train the Afghan army and bring better governance and credibility to Afghanistan than Hamid Karzai. So, every effort has to be made to convince Dr Abdullah to reconsider re-entering the second round.

There is not much time for any diplomats to sit round a table with Abdullah, but the Afghan people deserve better than their current President.

The presumptive Secretary of State Hillary Clinton faced a US Senate Foreign Relations Committee before a Thursday vote is expected to confirm her as Madam Secretary.

Do you think that her husband’s charitable foundation donations present a conflict of interest?