The out-going president of the Afghanistan - Hamid Karzai - has expressed his deep concern over the stand-off persisting in his country over the presidential elections. Karzai, who is to relinquish his position after two terms - the maximum allowed by the constitution - says, he is dismayed at the dispute over his successor as none of the two rivals wants to concede defeat.
Afghanistan - the war-ravaged country for last several years - is now in the threshold of a new crisis over the election of the country's president. United States Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul twice in recent months to break the stalemate, but achieved little in terms of success. In fact, the stand-off remained largely unaltered although both the candidates said they are keen to resolve it.
John Kerry met both Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister, who has alleged of large-scale fraud in the counting of votes and his rival -- former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani, who is said to be leading in the counting that has not been officially over. Both the candidates gave their views about the elections that look to favour Ghani, but most analysts believe Abdullah is being robbed off the victory. This has become a major problem in the country which is bracing with the situation of uncertainty as the NATO troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of the current year.
During his two visits, US Secretary of States stressed that any crisis resulting from the presidential polls would have a terrible impact on Afghanistan which can ill-afford a perilous situation at this point of time. Evidently, the US, whose stake in the country is very high, is badly disturbed and urged both candidates to calm down. John Kerry said the results are "preliminary" and all sides should show patience and restraint.
Earlier, rival candidates ratcheted up tensions ahead of the announcement of the election results while the country is also witnessing an escalation of the fighting with the Islamic militants. These two problems appear as big challenges for the Kabul government when the US-led NATO troops are scheduled to leave the conflict-ridden country and the experienced President Hamid Karzai is set to quit office.
With the two candidates at loggerheads in the run-up for the new presidency, the results look set to tip Afghanistan into a new phase of uncertainty. While Abdullah is contesting the fairness of the on-going counting of the votes, Ghani is seen as the favourite nominee of the outgoing President Karzai. Abdullah, who once contested unsuccessfully against Karzai for the highest position, won the first round of the presidential polls against Ghani. His supporters allege that Abdullah's victory is certain in the final counting, but "conspiracies", they say, are being hatched to deny him the well-deserved win. Kerry said failure to reduce the surging tensions over the election would only weaken the fight against the Talibans.
NATO and the Kabul government foresee quick fall in the intensity of the war in the coming days as they feel things are going their ways. Well, it is a see-saw game and success in the war-front often swings fortunes. Needless to say, the NATO is well equipped with all modern dispensations under its control as well as with enormous financial and other strengths. How long the Islamic militants can fight them is a matter that is often talked about even though they have been fighting the much superior opponents for a long time.
The NATO led by the world's only super power US plans to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan by 2014 and the security of the country would be handed over to the Afghan authorities. True, the NATO have made strides in areas known as strongholds of the militants. Nonetheless, the incessant attacks raise question -- whether cessation of the war would be possible by that time and if the Kabul government troops would be able to withstand the assaults of the militants. The NATO says it would be possible to quit by the timeframe set by them. But the US is planning to keep some units of its armed force even after 2014 under a bilateral agreement with Kabul, which President Karzai has so far not approved.
Both the presidential candidates have supported the bilateral accord proposed by the US in varying degrees. But, now the outcome of the election itself is hanging in balance with frontrunner Abdullah boycotting the "blatant fraud" of counting. This has jeopardised the first democratic transfer of power as the country faces the twin crises of internal political instability and increased Taliban attacks.
President Hamid Karzai has faced many a storm during the two terms of his presidency and said he is keen to hand over power so that a stable Afghanistan marches towards progress. But he is dismayed at the situation that has resulted from the presidential polls. A spokesman of the United States government said that Washington expects that all Afghan quarters having a stake in democracy and country's stability would work for the political stability of the nation. But will it happen as the crisis over presidential polls persists?
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