Independent Election Commission on Dr. Abdullah Abdullah : ‘The Withdraw Time is Already Done’
Dr. Abdullah Abdullah has called for the resignation of IEC officials – the Commission is considered to be largely supportive of Karzai and was accused of fraud by foreign election monitors.
So far, Karzai, whose Administration has faced criticisms of illegitimacy, corruption, and ineffectiveness from Afghans for years now, is now said to be working hard to ensure that Dr. Abdullah does not withdraw from the run-off. Of course, Karzai is worried about being declared winner by default in a run-off election held after over 1 million votes, largely cast for Karzai, were considered to be fraudulent, needs Dr. Abdullah to stay in the race to reduce further talks of illegitimacy:
Mr. Abdullah had given President Karzai until Saturday to remove the country‘s Independent Election Commission chief, Azizullah Lodin.
It was one of several conditions that Mr. Abdullah had voiced this week to avoid a repeat of the massive fraud that marred the August 20 presidential election.
As of Saturday, President Karzai had not agreed to his opponent‘s demands.
Mr. Abdullah is expected to hold a press conference Sunday about the November seventh vote. News reports cite sources close to the former foreign minister as saying Mr. Abdullah may pull out of the runoff.
A spokesman for the Afghan election commission, Noor Mohammad Noor, tells VOA that legally, Mr. Abdullah cannot officially withdraw a week away from the vote.
“Now is too late, according to IEC procedure of the election law, the withdraw time is already done, so they must continue,” said Noor.
Speaking from Kabul, the director of Afghanistan’s Center for Research and Policy Studies, Haroun Mir, says a boycott would have a major impact on the public’s perception of the country’s government.
“If Dr. Abdullah boycotts and we have a very low voter turnout, then President Karzai will be declared winner, but he will not be considered a legitimate president,” said Mir.
VOA: Abdullah cannot legally withdraw from presidential runoff [Twitter]