There’s a serious political crisis developing in Afghanistan:
KABUL — A presidential run-off election planned for Nov. 7 was thrown into turmoil Saturday, with the main challenger to President Hamid Karzai, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, widely expected to pull out of the race.
Campaign spokesmen for Abdullah said he had not made a final decision but would announce it here Sunday at a gathering of his top supporters from around the country. Some analysts suggested the boycott threat was an eleventh-hour ploy to win a power-sharing agreement with Karzai.
However, several sources close to Abdullah said he had no option but to boycott the contest. They said Karzai had refused to meet Abdullah’s demands to fire the nation’s top election official and take other measures to prevent the fraud that marred the original presidential election in August.
“We don’t want to boycott, but Mr. Karzai has not accepted any conditions, so he left us with no other choice,” said one member of Abdullah’s political team, speaking on the condition of anonymity because Abdullah has not yet announced his plans. “There is no guarantee that a second round would be free and fair. It would only create more problems than it solves.”
The prospect of Abdullah’s withdrawal could plunge Afghanistan into an even deeper political crisis after weeks of mounting tension and uncertainty over how to form a new government. Karzai’s victory in the Aug. 20 presidential election was found invalid because of widespread fraud, leading to plans for the runoff.
A canceled or marred election would further complicate matters for the Obama administration, which is nearing a decision on whether to significantly expand its military commitment to the war against Afghan and al-Qaeda insurgents. Washington has been counting on the election to produce a credible administration and partner in the war effort.
Stay tuned…..
October 31st, 2009 at 5:57 pm
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