Khalilzad on Karzai’s Victory : ‘The Key Issue is How The Afghan People Will React
Former U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad spoke to CNN’s American Morning today about the IEC announcement declaring Hamid Karzai the winner of the August Afghan Presidential election.
Khalilzad, who is rumored to have been considered for a high level decision-making position within a new Karzai Administration, states that the Afghan people (who for many years have been calling Karzai ineffective, illegitimate, and corrupt) will be the ultimate deciders of how this election affects Karzai’s legitimacy as President:
The cancellation of the runoff “puts the election issue behind us,” but Karzai has yet to achieve a true victory, according to the former U.S. ambassador to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad.
“Now the key issue is how the Afghan people will react to this, what kind of government will President Karzai put together, and how the international community will react,” Khalilzad said on CNN’s “American Morning.” “We‘re in a new stage now in Afghanistan.”
Karzai declared elected president of Afghanistan [CNN]