 |
| |
WEEKLY
SECTIONS |
 |
 |
 |
|
| Karzai declared president, run-off cancelled |
|
|
|
Tuesday, November 03, 2009
KABUL: Afghan President Hamid Karzai was returned to power after election officials cancelled a needless run-off on Monday, but was warned he would need to work harder to retain the West’s support after a flawed electoral process.
The government-appointed Independent Election Commission (IEC) called off the Nov 7 presidential run-off a day after Karzai’s only rival, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew, sparking concerted efforts to have the vote cancelled.
The IEC, which had said on Sunday the vote would proceed, said it changed its mind to spare the Afghan people the expense and security risk of staging a run-off with only one candidate. IEC chief Azizullah Ludin told a packed news conference the commission was also concerned a one-candidate race would raise concerns about the legitimacy of the presidency.
The first round in August was marred by widespread fraud in favour of Karzai. “The Independent Election Commission declares the esteemed Hamid Karzai as the president ... because he was the winner of the first round and the only candidate in the second round,” Ludin said.
Abdullah withdrew on Sunday citing doubts about the fairness of the process, sparking a frantic round of diplomatic efforts to have the run-off cancelled. A weakened Afghan government under Karzai would be a blow for US President Barack Obama as he considers whether to send up to 40,000 more troops to fight a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Western officials and analysts said it was too late to remove fears about Karzai’s legitimacy and said the man who has ruled since US-backed Afghan forces toppled the Taliban in 2001 would have to work much harder to retain the confidence of the West.
“The credibility of the Karzai government is not going to be simply decided by this election, it will now be decided by the actions the president takes over the coming days and weeks,” a Kabul-based Western official told Reuters.
“The first test will be the formation of his cabinet. If he is serious about reform we need to see that,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Others described the outcome of the election as political expediency. The result came at the end of a tumultuous day, after weeks of uncertainty, which included a surprise visit by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
“Not only are the citizens of Nato countries with forces fighting here supposed to buy into this hastily cobbled together sham, apparently the Afghan people are as well,” said Norine MacDonald, president of think-tank the International Council on Security and Development.
Ban and the US Embassy in Kabul and Britain later issued statements congratulating Karzai.Ban Ki-moon welcomed a decision to cancel Afghanistan’s run-off election and congratulated President Hamid Karzai on being handed a second term in office.
“Afghanistan now faces significant challenges and the new president must move swiftly to form a government that is able to command the support of both the Afghan people and the international community,” Ban said.
The United States congratulated Hamid Karzai on his “historic” re-election as Afghan president and looks forward to working with him, the American embassy in Kabul said in a statement on Monday.
The White House said on Monday Hamid Karzai was the legitimate president of Afghanistan and that President Barack Obama’s decision on whether to send more US troops there was still weeks away.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Obama planned to telephone Karzai shortly. Britain welcomed the decision to cancel the Afghan election run-off, and urged President Hamid Karzai to set out a “unifying programme,” a spokesman for Prime Minister Gordon Brown said.
“The government welcomes the decision by the Independent Electoral Commission,” he said, referring to the Afghan poll watchdog’s decision to call off a one-man run-off which had threatened to descend into farce.
Many in the West see Karzai as a weak leader at the head of a government riddled with corruption and foremost among those challenges will be coming up with a cabinet acceptable to Afghans and to the country’s international partners.
Meanwhile, the Karzai’s camp ruled out a power-sharing deal with Abdullah if it meant a coalition government, but now may not have any choice but to include some of Abdullah’s team in key posts.
Abdullah said he was open to future talks but also said no deals had been struck in return for his withdrawal, seen by diplomats as one way to spare the country more uncertainty that discredits the government and can only aid the insurgency.
Ban met both Karzai and Abdullah, officials said, before the decision was announced. He made the visit after five foreign UN staff were killed in a suicide attack last week on a Kabul guest house used by the United Nations.
|
|
|
| Back
| Send
this story to Friend | Print
Version |
|
|
‘Al-Qaeda, Taliban leaders not in Pakistan’
ISLAMABAD: Strongly reacting to some of the reports of the presence of al-Qaeda and Taliban leadership in Pakistan by the US newspapers and some intelligence agencies, President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday said more |
|
|
Mulla Omar in Karachi, claims WT
WASHINGTON: Mulla Muhammed Omar, the leader of the Afghan Taliban, has fled Quetta and found refuge from the potential US attacks in Karachi with the assistance of Pakistan’s intelligence, the Washington Times more |
|
|
Will PM intervene or will robber barons kill CCP?
By Mehtab Haider
ISLAMABAD: The Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has warned that it will cease to exist and its actions will become invalid in case the government fails to re-promulgate the Competition Ordinance on or b more |
|
|
Eight militants die in US drone attack
By our correspondent
MIRAMSHAH: Eight militants were killed and two others injured when a US drone hit a house in the Michikhel area in North Waziristan on Friday, the second such attack in less than 24 hours.
Tribal sources sai more |
|
|
19 militants killed in SWA, Khyber, Bajaur clashes
By our correspondents
WANA/BARA/KHAR: Nineteen militants were killed in clashes with security forces in South Waziristan, Khyber and Bajaur tribal regions on Friday.
Tribal and officials sources said five militants were kille more |
|
|
|
Pakistan has nothing to fear from India: Singh
WASHINGTON: Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has said India is ready to resolve all outstanding issues with the country on the condition that it will not allow its territory to be used against its neighbour more |
|
|
|
Qureshi wants result-oriented dialogue with India
MULTAN: Foreign Minister Makhdoom Shah Mehmud Qureshi said on Friday Pakistan wanted meaningful and result-oriented bilateral negotiations with India.
Addressing a press conference at the airport here, h more |
|
|
|
Only 15 pc believe Pakistan is going right
By Gibran Peshimam
KARACHI: Pakistan’s youths are losing confidence in the future and a mere 15 per cent believe that the country is heading in the right direction, while 72 per cent feel economically worse off than a year ago. O more |
|
|
|
Mustafa Jatoi passes away
ISLAMABAD: Former caretaker prime minister Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi breathed his last at the St Marry Hospital in London on Friday after a protracted illness. He was 78.
He leaves behind six sons and three d more |
|
|
|
Slaughter of animals, NRO beneficiaries begins on Eid
By Muhammad Ahmad Noorani
ISLAMABAD: The National Accountability Bureau (NAB) will soon announce its strategy to deal with the cases which are going to reopen on Nov 28, a NAB spokesman told The News on Friday.
“The NAB chairman more |
|
|
|
WFP, Rescue 15 attacks’ mastermind arrested
By Shakeel Anjum
ISLAMABAD: The Capital Police on Friday arrested the mastermind behind the attacks on the UN World Food Programme (WFP) and the Rescue 15 offices in Islamabad.
The terrorist, identified as Jamshed Ahmad more |
|
|
|
Mushahid asks Karzai not to allow use of Afghan land against Pakistan
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Secretary General Pakistan Muslim League-Q Mushahid Hussain Sayed on Friday asked President Hamid Karzai not to allow the use of Afghan land against Pakistan under Indian designs.
“Pakistan wa more |
|
|
|
No Indo-Pak FMs meeting: Nirupama
NEW DELHI: India on Friday said no meeting had been scheduled between foreign ministers of Pakistan and India in Port of Spain later this month on the sidelines of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting ( more |
|
|
|
US to tighten control of Afghan contracts: Gates
HALIFAX: US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said on Friday that the United States must tighten control of Afghan development contracts as a first step towards stemming rampant corruption.
“The reality is more |
|
|
|
China has stake in Kashmir: Mirwaiz
News Desk
HELD SRINAGAR: As he plans to visit China, Hurriyat Conference leader Mirwaiz Umar Farooq on Friday kicked up a controversy by saying that Beijing has a “direct link” with the Kashmir issue, drawing strong obje more |
|
|
|
Clinton favours Indo-Pak dialogue on Kashmir
WASHINGTON: The United States is encouraging Pakistan and India to resume their dialogue to address Kashmir and other outstanding disputes but any solution must come from the two countries, Secretary of State H more |
|
|
|
Competition Commission forces PIA to fly fair
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Silent prayers of many Hajis have apparently been answered as the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) has ordered PIA to refund within 60 days the excessive fares charged from the passengers, wh more |
|
|
|
Attack on policemen in Peshawar
By Javed Aziz Khan
PESHAWAR: The death toll in the bomb attack on police party in Yakatoot rose to three after a sub-inspector and another cop succumbed to injuries at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Friday as the city mourned more |
|
|
|
‘Musharraf funnelling money to improve image’
ISLAMABAD: Former president General (retd) Pervez Musharraf has reportedly funnelled a large amount of money to his former aides in the country in order to improve his image, as he is planning a return to the c more |
|
|
|
Sen Lugar’s wife arrested, charged with drinking, hit-and-run
News Desk
WASHINGTON: The wife of Republican Senator Richard G Lugar was arrested in the suburb of McLean on Wednesday night after crashing into a parked car, and she was charged with drunk driving and hit-and-run, the F more |
|
|
|
briefs...
Bombers kill 23 in Afghanistan
HERAT: Bomb attacks on Friday killed 23 people in Afghanistan, a deadly start to President Hamid Karzai’s second term that underscored spiralling insecurity nine years into more |
|
|
|
ISSN 1563-9479 
