UN secretary general arrives in Kabul amid poll turmoil (Roundup)

Nov 2, 2009, 11:32 GMT

   Kabul - The United Nations would back the decision of Afghanistan's election commission on a presidential runoff, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday, shortly before the commission declared President Hamid Karzai the winner.

   Ban arrived Monday on an unannounced visit to Kabul as political uncertainty deepened in Afghanistan after the pullout of Karzai's challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, from Saturday's planned runoff election.

   'I am sure that the due process and observance of the law will prevail and the Afghan IEC [Independent Election Commission] will apply constitutionally correct procedures,' Ban said.

   About an hour later, the commission's chairman, Azizullah Ludin, announced in Kabul that his agency had cancelled the second round of voting and declared Karzai president for the next five years.

   Ludin said the commission came to the decision because Karzai won the most votes in the first round on August 20 and the constitution mandates that a runoff be held between two candidates.

   The commission also hoped to avoid insurgent attacks and the expense of a runoff, he said.

   Ban said the August voting in the war-torn country was among the most difficult elections the United Nations had supported, taking place amid Taliban attacks and infrastructure shortcomings.

   It was marred by massive fraud, mostly in favour of Karzai. Abdullah said Sunday that he was pulling out of the runoff after Karzai did not accept his conditions for bringing transparency to the election.

   Abdullah's decision to withdraw lead to Karzai being declared the winner, but it also cast doubt over the legitimacy of his future administration.

   The Afghan constitution failed to anticipate a situation in which a candidate pulls out of a runoff, and officials had said they believed the IEC or the Supreme Court would have to come up with a ruling to legitimize the future government.

   An IEC official insisted Monday that the commission has a constitutional mandate to decide on the runoff and announce the results of the election.

   Abdullah himself did not question the legitimacy of Karzai's future government and said he was open for talks on forming the new government, which could involve his supporters taking part in the administration.

   Political analysts said they believe Karzai must make concessions to Abdullah's camp to achieve a compromise.

   Initially, both Karzai's camp and the commission had said the runoff would go ahead despite Abdullah's decision, but Western officials said the international community, which provided funds and security for the election, was not willing to support a one-man election.

   'There is no appetite on the part of international community for the second round of the elections,' said a Western official who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the issue.

   He said it would be 'ridiculous' to spend money and risk lives for a process in which the outcome is already known.

   The Taliban vowed to disrupt the fresh vote and claimed responsibility for an attack Wednesday in which militants, equipped with suicide vests and automatic rifles, stormed a UN guesthouse in downtown Kabul, killing five UN international staff and three Afghans.

   The Taliban claimed it was the beginning of the their anti-election campaign because the UN staff who were attacked were supporting the runoff.

   Ban reiterated Monday that the United Nations was in Afghanistan to stay.

   'We have suffered a grievous attack, but our work will continue,' he said.

   Addressing speculation that the UN might pull out of Afghanistan, Ban said, 'We will not be deterred and we must not be deterred and the work of the United Nations must continue.'

   The UN's top official met Monday with both Karzai and Abdullah.

   Karzai garnered more than 54 per cent of the ballots in the August election, a percentage that made him an outright winner, but a UN-backed investigation discounted about 1 million, or a third, of his ballots and pushed him into a runoff with Abdullah, his nearest rival.