By DPA,
Kabul: Afghan President Hamid Karzai announced Tuesday that he failed to win an outright election victory in the first round of voting and accepted the results requiring a second round that will be held on Nov 7.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC), an Afghan election body that conducted the August election, said that Karzai’s share of the vote was below the 50 percent needed for a first-round victory and set Nov 7 as a date for the second round of the election.
Karzai told a press a joint press conference with visiting US Democratic Senator John Kerry at his palace that the decision for the second round of the election announced by the Independent Election Commission (IEC) was in accordance with the Afghan constitution.
“The people of Afghanistan won the first round of the elections and I congratulate them,” Karzai said, adding, “Now there is another opportunity for the people of Afghanistan to come out and vote and elect their president in the new round of elections.”
The president accepted Monday’s verdict released by a UN-backed Election Complaints Commission on thousands of suspicious ballots cast in the Aug 20 presidential election, saying more than 1 million of the ballots had been invalidated.
Noor Mohammad Noor, a spokesman for the IEC, said that Karzai’s share of vote fell to 49.67 percent from nearly 55 percent he garnered in the preliminary results announced last month.
“None of the candidates of the presidential elections of 2009 received more than 50 percent of the valid votes as required by the Constitution and Electoral Law of Afghanistan,” the IEC said in a statement later.
“Considering the time constraints, the imminent arrival of winter and existence of the problems in the country, the IEC announces that the second round of the elections will be held on 7th of November of this year across Afghanistan in accordance with the constitutional requirements,” it said.
Noor said that the IEC had made preparations for the second round of the vote.
Karzai had been under intense pressure from his government’s Western allies for the past several days to accept that outcome and face the runoff vote, with his top challenger former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.
“A moment of great uncertainty has been transformed into a moment of great opportunity,” Kerry told the same press conference, adding that Afghan people faced “extraordinary challenges” as the country embraces the second round of voting.
Karzai also rejected that his team was holding talks with Abdullah’s camp to strike a power-sharing deal and avert the second round of the elections.
Western officials in Kabul have acknowledged that owing to the onset of winter and Taliban threats of attacks, the runoff vote would be almost impossible.
“Now there is talk on forming a coalition government,” Karzai said, adding, “If we accepted that, there was no need to go to second round of the elections.”
“Forming a coalition government is not possible. It will not have any legitimacy,” he added.
“There has been no talk on a coalition government, there is no agreement, but a guarantee of runoff elections,” Kerry said when asked if he deemed the power-sharing deal as a solution to end the two months of political uncertainty in the country.