The past Afghan elections caused much controversy due to its highly publicised corruption. A couple of my fellow bloggers talked about Abdullah quitting the running towards becoming Afghanistan's next president. But, does he have an As up his sleeve?
"One cannot toy with the people's suffrage," were his words last week referring to Karzai's doubtful innocence. But one of his strategies to become president is to call to new presidential elections this next year, elections that will happen during the same time as the legislative elections thus creating the opportunity to create a new political scenario. Abdullah hopes that the damage caused on Karzai's image proves to be enough to make the White House seek some changes in the Afghan politics to help them carry on with the American military strategy.
But the United States, who have in the past criticised Karzai's leadership, seemed to have accepted the Afghan political panorama. Obama's advisor, David Axelrod, stated recently that since most polls showed Abdullah would have lost the second round, they were going to "deal with the already set government."
The objective of the second round was to obtain back the lost credibility needed to carry on with war against Talibans. Obama said that he wouldn't send any more troops to Afghanistan until a new government in Tabul is declared.
Source:
Periódico Expreso 12A. Nov 2 2009.
