KABUL: Afghanistan will hold a second round of its presidential election on Nov. 7 after incumbent Hamid Karzai failed to win a clear majority in the fraud-tainted contest, officials said Tuesday.
Exactly two months after polls that Karzai had been expected to win easily, the election commission confirmed he fell fractionally short of the 50 percent needed to avoid a runoff against main rival Abdullah Abdullah.
Led by the US, Afghanistan’s foreign allies welcomed the move as an opportunity to lift the country out of political chaos and help stabilize a nation blighted by an escalating Taleban insurgency.
Karzai confirmed at a news conference that he would take part in the second round, calling it a “step forward for democracy.” He spoke alongside UN envoy Kai Eide and US Sen. John Kerry, whose presence underscored intensive Western lobbying of Karzai to resolve the weeks of political paralysis.
US President Barack Obama welcomed Karzai’s agreement to a second round as an important precedent for Afghan democracy.
But UN chief Ban Ki-moon struck a note of caution, saying holding the runoff presented “huge challenges.”
