Via the BBC: Karzai declared elected president.
Given that the other candidate in the race, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out out, this is hardly a surprise. However, since the first round was tainted by massive fraud and Abdullah pulled out stating that he did not believe sufficient measures had been taken to ensure a free and fair second round, the entire process has damaged the legitimacy of the Karzai government.
As BBC reporter Andrew North noted “It is a very unsatisfactory end, not the end anyone here wished for. At the moment it is being seen as the best of a lot of bad options.”
Indeed.
The situation further complicates the Obama administration’s decision-making going forward in regards to Afghanistan. How much will the US anf its NATO allies being willing to prop up the Karzai government if it is viewed as severely tainted, if not illegitimate?
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November 3rd, 2024 at 8:06 am
[...] PoliBlog | Given that the other candidate in the race, Abdullah Abdullah, pulled out out, this is hardly a surprise. However, since the first round was tainted by massive fraud and Abdullah pulled out stating that he did not believe sufficient measures had been taken to ensure a free and fair second round, the entire process has damaged the legitimacy of the Karzai government. The situation further complicates the Obama administration’s decision-making going forward in regards to Afghanistan. How much will the US and its NATO allies be willing to prop up the Karzai government if it is viewed as severely tainted, if not illegitimate? Taylor Marsh | And as much as I don’t like Karzai, it’s clear Abdullah Abdullah wasn’t the man for Afghanistan. If he isn’t willing to fight for his country at a critical point, it’s hard to argue that he’d be a better choice. That said, the general consensus from experts I’ve talked to was that the whole runoff was a “charade” anyway, with some suggesting no work had even begun for the elections. The outcome or lack thereof in Afghanistan is all bad news. For the women in that country it is a disaster. For U.S. policy it’s almost as bad. [...]
November 3rd, 2024 at 10:59 am
“not the end anyone here wished for.”
True. Karzai, for instance, clearly preferred to steal the election in one round!
Now a comparative-institutional moment: some majority-runoff systems (e.g. France) would substitute the third candidate if one of the top two pulled out (or the fourth if the third pulled out, etc.). Yes, I know Karzai would have beaten any of them, perhaps even fairly, but either the rules require a majority or they don’t.
What a sham.
November 3rd, 2024 at 11:07 am
“Sham” about covers it, yes.