Karzai Agrees to Run-Off Election in Afghanistan
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/world/asia/21afghan.html?hp
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KABUL, Afghanistan — Under heavy international pressure, President Hamid Karzai conceded Tuesday that he fell short of a first-round victory in the nation’s disputed presidential election, and agreed to hold a runoff election with his top challenger on Nov. 7.
Flanked at a news conference in Kabul by Senator John Kerry, the head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Kai Eide, the top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai said he would accept the findings of an international audit that stripped him of nearly one third of his votes in the first round, leaving him below the 50 percent threshold that would have allowed him to avoid a runoff and declare victory over his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah.
“I call upon this country to take this as an opportunity to move this country forward and participate in this new round of elections,” he said according to the English translation of his remarks, adding that he was grateful to the international community for its help.
Mr. Karzai called for continued international assistance in securing the country for the next round of voting. He did not express regret about the widespread fraud that a joint Afghan-international audit committee ruled Monday had occurred among the ballots marked in his name.
Instead, Mr. Karzai said that he felt the voters in the south of Afghanistan, his stronghold and apparent source of the bulk of his fraudulent votes, had been “disrespected,” but did not explain further, and added this was not an issue for the present time.
“A moment of great uncertainty has been transformed into a moment of great opportunity,” Mr. Kerry said, praising Mr. Karzai’s decision to cooperate with the ruling of the audit committee, as mandated under Afghani election laws.
Mr. Karzai’s capitulation came after an all-out push by Obama administration officials and their European allies. But even though Mr. Karzai ended his strong resistance to a runoff, that will not completely resolve the country’s political crisis, officials say. It will be difficult to hold the new election as the Afghan winter approaches and under the perilous security challenges posed by the Taliban insurgency.
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Source: the New York times
Flanked at a news conference in Kabul by Senator John Kerry, the head of the powerful Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and Kai Eide, the top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Mr. Karzai said he would accept the findings of an international audit that stripped him of nearly one third of his votes in the first round, leaving him below the 50 percent threshold that would have allowed him to avoid a runoff and declare victory over his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah.
“I call upon this country to take this as an opportunity to move this country forward and participate in this new round of elections,” he said according to the English translation of his remarks, adding that he was grateful to the international community for its help.
Mr. Karzai called for continued international assistance in securing the country for the next round of voting. He did not express regret about the widespread fraud that a joint Afghan-international audit committee ruled Monday had occurred among the ballots marked in his name.
Instead, Mr. Karzai said that he felt the voters in the south of Afghanistan, his stronghold and apparent source of the bulk of his fraudulent votes, had been “disrespected,” but did not explain further, and added this was not an issue for the present time.
“A moment of great uncertainty has been transformed into a moment of great opportunity,” Mr. Kerry said, praising Mr. Karzai’s decision to cooperate with the ruling of the audit committee, as mandated under Afghani election laws.
Mr. Karzai’s capitulation came after an all-out push by Obama administration officials and their European allies. But even though Mr. Karzai ended his strong resistance to a runoff, that will not completely resolve the country’s political crisis, officials say. It will be difficult to hold the new election as the Afghan winter approaches and under the perilous security challenges posed by the Taliban insurgency.
end of excerpt
Source: the New York times
