Afghanistan’s election commission cancelled the second round of a presidential poll today and declared President Karzai the winner after the last-minute withdrawal of his only rival.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) said the decision was made because of the cost and risk of organising the vote on Saturday, and because a one-horse race would raise doubts about the president's legitimacy.
"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," Azizullah Ludin, the Karzai-appointed IEC chief, told a packed news conference.
Asked if he was concerned that President Karzai did not have a legal mandate, he told reporters: “We are the commission and we have decided.”
There was no immediate response from Abdullah Abdullah, who withdrew yesterday in protest at Mr Karzai’s failure to meet his “minimum conditions” for a fair run-off, including the dismissal of Mr Ludin.
The United States and its allies here had been pushing for the cancellation of the run-off, fearing low turnout, further fraud and Taleban attacks, and for a power-sharing deal between the two men.
Few had expected the IEC to formally declare Mr Karzai the winner today as he won less then 50 per cent in the first round following the invalidation of more than a million of his votes because of fraud.
The international community had been encouraging Mr Karzai and the IEC to seek a ruling from the Supreme Court – without which Dr Abdullah and other opponents could still dispute Mr Karzai’s mandate.
But most UN and Western officials welcomed the IEC's announcement nonetheless as a signal that Afghanistan’s two-month election crisis might finally have produced a definite – if flawed – result.
Among them was Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, who met both Mr Karzai and Dr Abdullah earlier in the day as part of efforts to broker a power-sharing deal that would allow the run-off to be cancelled.
"I welcome today's decision by Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission to forego a run-off vote and to declare Hamid Karzai as the winner of the 2009 presidential elections," Mr Ban said in a statement.
"I congratulate President Karzai," he added.
Downing Street said Gordon Brown had personally congratulated Mr Karzai.
"The Government welcomes the decision by the Independent Electoral Commission," a No 10 spokesman said.
"The Prime Minister has spoken to President Karzai to congratulate him on his re-election. They discussed the importance of the president moving quickly to set out a unifying programme for the future of Afghanistan."
Meanwhile, UN and Western officials were understood to be still trying to broker a deal under which Mr Karzai and Dr Abdullah would divide up ministries, provincial governorships and other posts between their allies.
They almost reached a deal yesterday, before Dr Abdullah’s announcement, but the talks fell through at the last minute, according to diplomats.
Mr Karzai's camp ruled out a coalition with Dr Abdullah yesterday, but the President is now under increasing international pressure to bring his former Foreign Minister back into government for the sake of national unity.
Both Mr Brown and Hillary Clinton, the US Secretary of State, strongly suggested yesterday that Mr Karzai should seek an "inclusive" government.
Diplomats said the US and its allies had accepted that Mr Karzai would remain as President, but were trying to ensure that his next government was inclusive enough to be a credible partner in the fight against the Taleban.
"There's a resignation that Karzai is the player we are going to have to deal with, but he is being told in no uncertain terms, that he is a wounded animal,” one senior Western official told The Times.
“In the eyes of the Afghan people and in the eyes of the international community he has to rebuild his credibility. The first test will be his cabinet. If we see thugs, criminals and drug dealers in the cabinet, international support will wither."
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