Karzai Declared Afghan President, Runoff Cancelled
I wonder how much Obama paid Abdullah to convince him to pull out of the race…
Afghan election commission declares Karzai winner
AP – via Jpost
Afghanistan’s election commission proclaimed President Hamid Karzai the victor of the country’s tumultuous ballot Monday, canceling a planned runoff and ending a political crisis two and a half months after a fraud-marred first round.
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The cancellation of Saturday’s vote came one day after former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah announced he was pulling out of the Nov. 7 vote. Abdullah said the ballot would not have been fair and accused the Karzai-appointed Independent Election Commission of bias.
The annulment is a huge relief to organizers who were scrambling to hold the election before the onset of Afghanistan’s harsh winter, as well as to authorities who feared a wave of bloody violence on polling day after a Taliban spokesman threatened attacks against anyone who took part.
Election commission chairman Azizullah Lodin announced Karzai the winner during a news conference in Kabul.
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2 November, 2009 at 9:32 pm
The true believers are probably taking notes for 2012. They’d love having the Media Created Fraud installed for a second term in this manner.
3 November, 2009 at 6:05 am
The details I have is that Clinton, Gordon Brown and at least four other European heads of government were on the phone to Abdullah to join in the vote.
Dr Abdullah has proven that he does not give a rat’s arse about peace and prosperity for Afghanistan and his action has insured instability will only grow even further.
If he had run in the election, lost or won, it would have at least allowed for a symbolic level of cohesion, he could have shown the fraud slowly and made a strong case and guarenteed perhaps his winning the next election.
Now we will not know and all the enemies of the state, the Taliban and others will simply say “what government”.