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UN chief Ban Ki-Moon - Source: Reuters -
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UN chief Ban Ki-Moon made a surprise visit to Afghanistan as
pressure grew to abandon plans for a risky run-off vote after the
withdrawal of President Hamid Karzai's only rival.
The withdrawal of former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah from
the November 7 run-off has cast doubts over the legitimacy of the
next government, which almost certainly will be led by
Karzai.
Behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts gathered pace after the Afghan
government-appointed Independent Election Commission said
Saturday's run-off would go ahead with Karzai as the only
candidate.
Ban ki-Moon will meet both Karzai and Abdullah to discuss
development work, a UN statement said.
"The Secretary-General will also meet Dr Abdullah Abdullah and
President Hamid Karzai to assure them and the Afghan people of the
continuing support of the United Nations towards the development of
the country and the humanitarian assistance that the UN provides to
millions of Afghans everyday," a UN statement said.
A weakened Afghan government under Karzai would be a blow for US
President Barack Obama as he considers whether to send up to 40,000
more troops to fight a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan.
Western officials in Kabul refused to confirm even if they were in
discussions with the IEC but privately acknowledge a run-off with
Karzai as the only candidate would cast serious doubts over the
credibility of his government.
"The IEC is meeting today and we hope that they'll reach a decision
on the second round later in the day," a Western diplomat in Kabul,
who asked not to be identified, said.
While the Afghan constitution is unclear, options available to the
IEC include cancelling the run-off or referring the matter to
Afghanistan's Supreme Court for a decision.
Abdullah's withdrawal, and the IEC's decision to push ahead with
the process, presents the possibility of foreign countries now
being asked to put more troops at risk to secure an election in
which the winner is already known.
Military deaths have already reached record levels this year, with
October the bloodiest month of the eight-year war for US
forces.
Many of Obama's Democratic allies in Congress are wary of a troop
increase, while Republicans accuse him of dragging out the
deliberations over strategy.
Some question whether Washington has a credible partner to work
with in the Afghan government.
Washington officials said the matter was for Afghans to decide but
indicated they would be able to work with the next
government.
"We're going to deal with the government that is there and
obviously there are issues we need to discuss, such as reducing the
high level of corruption there," senior Obama adviser David Axelrod
told the CBS program Face the Nation.
Ruling out coalition
Karzai's camp on Sunday ruled out a coalition with Abdullah,
dashing hopes of a way out of the impasse.
Abdullah left the door open for future discussions but said no
deals had been struck in return for his withdrawal, seen by
diplomats as one way to spare the country more uncertainty that
discredits the government and can only aid the insurgency.
He expressed strong reservations about the credibility of the
election process after widespread fraud marred the first round
vote.
Karzai had been favourite to win the run-off after getting more
votes in an August 20 first round.
His campaign team also said the run-off would go ahead.
The Taliban, which have vowed to disrupt the polls again, said
Abdullah's withdrawal made no difference.
Abdullah said he quit because demands he had sought from the
government and the IEC, including the sacking of Afghanistan's top
election official, had not been met.
The run-off was triggered when a UN-led investigation found
widespread fraud, mainly in favour of Karzai, had been committed
during the first round.
