Monday, November 2, 2009

Afghanistan’s Runoff Election Cancelled Less Than a Week from Vote



Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, former Foreign Minister for Afghanistan under President Hamid Karzai, and opposition in the upcoming runoff elections announced his withdrawal from the ballot today. The reason he gave for his decision was a fear that repeat-fraud and widespread unrest would transpire, similar to the heavily contested August election which cost UN Envoy Peter Galbraith his position in the country. The UN secretary General, Ban Ki Moon said clearly that his organization would continue its work and would support the government and people of Afghanistan in any way that it could.

With no contestation by Abdullah, incumbent President Karzai is set to transition into his third term as the nation’s leader since the NATO/ISAF invasion of 2001. Independent Election Commission chairman Aziz Lodin stated, “We declare Hamid Karzai, which got the majority of votes in the first round and is the only candidate for the second round of the election in Afghanistan in 2009 ... is the elected President of Afghanistan." Hamid Karzai is now free to continue his work with international governing body, coalition forces and foreign diplomats to ensure the lasting stability and peaceful development of his nation.


Sources:

Telegraph.co.uk – Afghanistan election runoff cancelled
TIME - Karzai Declared President as Runoff Cancelled

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