Afghans go to the polls for the second time in nearly three months to choose a new leader who will replace the long-serving President Hamid Karzai at a sensitive time when foreign forces are nearing exit.
The polls, which mark the first-ever transfer of power in the country’s history, are in a run-off stage after none of the candidates in the first round of vote, held on April 5, achieved the 50 per cent plus one needed to win.
Two leading candidates from that round, former foreign minister Dr Abdullah Abdullah and former finance minister Dr Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, are competing in the second round. Abdullah had won 45 per cent of the vote in April while Ghani had secured 31.6 per cent.
Both candidates have vowed to pursue good relations with Pakistan if elected to power.
An important development this week was Qutbuddin Hilal, the Hizb-e-Islami-backed presidential candidate, joining Dr Ghani – a decision strongly condemned by the party leadership.
“We have boycotted the second round as policies of both the leading candidates are completely against Hizb-e-Islami as they are in favour of the presence of foreign troops, foreign military bases and signing the controversial security pact with the US,” Hizb-e-Islami’s head of Political Commission Dr Ghairat Baheer told The Express Tribune on Friday. He accused Hilal of changing loyalties for his “personal interests” as he had earlier promised to obey the party’s decision.
Security will be the main challenge for the polls and Afghan Army Chief Gen Sher Mohammad Karimi has said a nearly 190,000-strong force of security personnel is on alert.
Source/Fuente: http://tribune.com.pk/story/721639/election-run-off-ethnicity-to-decide-...