Election organisers on Monday declared Hamid Karzai president of Afghanistan for another five years, cancelling a run-off which threatened to descend into farce and further destabilise the country.
The announcement followed intense diplomatic pressure and sought to draw a line under two months of political chaos in a war-torn nation where 100,000 NATO and US troops are battling an increasingly virulent Taliban insurgency.
"We declare that Mr Hamid Karzai, who won the majority of votes in the first round and is the only candidate in the second round, is the elected president of Afghanistan," Independent Election Commission (IEC) chairman Azizullah Ludin said.
The president''s only challenger, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, quit the contest on Sunday charging there were no safeguards to prevent a repeat of massive fraud that threw out nearly a quarter of votes cast in August.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon met Karzai and Abdullah amid a concerted diplomatic push to bring a quick end to chaos that has undermined Western efforts to cultivate democracy in Afghanistan eight years after a US-led invasion.
Taliban’s foreign minister reportedly accuses Tajikistan, Iran and Pakistan of supporting ISIS
EBRD helps improve capacity of Tajikistan’s banking sector
IsDB approves US$150 million for Roghun hydropower plant project in Tajikistan
Swiss Government and UNICEF help realize children’s equitable access to justice in Tajikistan
US Commerce Depart restricts export of all firearms to non-government entities in high-risk countries
Tajikistan’s financial regulator lowers its refinancing rate by 0.25 percent
Only 25 veterans of the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945 estimated to be still alive in Tajikistan
Global immunization efforts have saved at least 154 million lives over the past 50 years
EBRD President pays a two-day visit to Tajikistan
WSJ: US spy agencies find that Putin didn’t directly order Alexei Navalny’s February Death
All news
Авторизуйтесь, пожалуйста