Refusing runoff would be ‘insulting democracy’ says Karzai 2
Last month, final uncertified results showed Karzai with 54 percent of the vote, but a report by a U.N.-backed panel of election monitors said there was widespread fraud in the August 20 presidential election.
The U.N.-backed Electoral Complaints Commission invalidated nearly one-third of Karzai’s votes because of “clear and convincing evidence of fraud.” Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission then certified the voting results, which gave him less than the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff.
The fraud claims reverberated politically in the United States, where criticism of the Afghan war gained even more traction when citizens and lawmakers began questioning whether it was worth sacrificing troops to support what they viewed as a corrupt government.
In light of the fraud claims and in the face of Western pressure, Karzai agreed to a November 7 runoff with his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah.