Karzai Readies For Second Term As Afghan President

KABUL: President Hamid Karzai prepared for a second term Tuesday with U.S. President Barack Obama, saying that ending corruption and urging world leaders to unify Afghanistan.

Karzai was declared president for another five years after the cancellation of a runoff for the country’s electoral commission, which followed the withdrawal of weekends only rival, Abdullah Abdullah.

Obama and UN chief Ban Ki-moon led world powers to congratulate Karzai, to be given a press conference around 10:00 am (0500 GMT) Tuesday.

However, U.S. President said he had told his counterpart to make “a more serious effort to eradicate corruption,” while chapter call for a “new” in cooperation between the two countries.

“This has to be the point in time we started writing a new chapter on the basis of better governance,” Obama said he had told Karzai in a telephone call.

Karzai, “he assured me that he understands the importance of this moment, but … the truth will not be in words, it will be in the facts,” Obama said.

Previously, the White House said Karzai, the “legitimate leader of the country,” but said it would begin “talks” difficult “with the new president, with Obama expected to make a decision on whether to deploy thousands of troops” in the coming weeks.

Former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, out of the contest on Sunday, saying there is no guarantee against the recurrence of widespread fraud that resulted in the release of nearly a quarter of the votes cast in August.

Anointing of Karzai for the Independent Electoral Commission followed intense diplomatic pressure and tried to draw a line with two months of political chaos in a country torn by war where 100,000 of NATO and U.S. troops fighting the Taliban insurgency increasingly violent.

UN chief Ban Karzai and Abdullah met in the midst of a concerted diplomatic initiative to rapidly end the chaos that has undermined Western efforts to cultivate democracy in Afghanistan, eight years after an invasion.

IEC chief Azizullah Ludin, appointed by Karzai, who oversaw a fraud riddled first round, said the decision had been made in accordance with the provisions of the Afghan election law and constitution and is “consistent with the interests of the people Afghan “.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown, whose country is the second largest contributor of foreign troops in Afghanistan, Karzai telephoned to urge him to develop a plan of national unity.

“They discussed the importance of the president moving quickly to establish a unified program for the future of Afghanistan,” said a spokesman for Brown.

NATO powers France and Germany urged Karzai to work with his defeated rival to stop the political struggle.

Congratulations also came from Pakistan and Russia, which said the election had “opened the way for the formation of the new national government, whose major task is the key problem of stabilization of conditions in the country.”

There have been serious concerns about staging the November 7 elections at a time when the Taliban insurgency is gaining momentum.

Deputy Head of the CEI official election Zakria Barakzai said the commission had been in violation of Article 61 of the Constitution – two states that candidates must contest a second round – they allowed the contest to continue without Abdullah.

First round of participation was only five per cent on 20 August in the areas most affected by the insurgency of the Taliban and the militia threaten new attacks, the number of votes on this occasion is likely to have been even lower.

Analysts say Karzai, already tainted by the fraud of the first round, you fight to claim their legitimacy in such circumstances.

After Karzai snubbed a series of demands promoted by his rival as an opportunity to avoid a repeat of massive fraud in the first round, Abdullah said Sunday that he saw his feet, but stopped short of calling for a boycott.

Tags: Afghan President, Karzai Readies, Second Term