Karzai declared winner after runoff is canceled

The decision by the government-appointed Independent Electoral Commission to cancel Saturday’s vote ended more than two months of uncertainty stemming from an election that was marred by fraud.

The United States and the United Nations quickly lined up in support of Karzai, who is to serve another five-year term.

“We congratulate President Karzai on his victory in this historic election and look forward to working with him,’’ the US Embassy said. It added that, “The IEC has taken this decision according to its mandate under Afghan law.’’

But aides to Karzai’s challenger said the election panel did not have the authority to declare a winner, raising the possibility of a legal challenge. “President Karzai is not really the winner,’’ said Fazel Sancharaki, spokesman for the campaign of Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister. “The commission made him the winner.’’

Abdullah bowed out of the presidential runoff Sunday, saying Karzai and the commission had refused to make changes to the country’s election infrastructure to prevent the sort of ballot-box stuffing and other irregularities that took place in the first round of voting in August.

Abdullah’s decision effectively handed Karzai another five-year term. But until yesterday’s announcement, it remained unclear whether the scheduled runoff would take place with just one candidate. The Afghan constitution and electoral law do not address the situation directly.

The election panel met for two days before reaching its decision. Members said they had the authority to cancel the vote because the constitution states that a runoff should be between two candidates.

“If one candidate isn’t ready to participate in the election, it is the mandate of the Independent Election Commission to declare the winner, and we did so today,’’ commission chairman Azizullah Lodin told a news conference.

The commission also considered the expense and security risks of holding a vote, electoral officials said.

Some members of Karzai’s campaign had wanted the runoff to take place to show that the president has a credible mandate after UN-backed auditors, citing fraud, threw out nearly one-third of his votes in the first round of balloting. That left Karzai just short of the 50-percent threshold required for an outright win and forced him into the runoff against Abdullah.

At first, Karzai resisted going to a second round, contending that the irregularities were not as severe as claimed, and that he had won more than 50 percent of the vote. Fearing that Karzai’s government would not be seen as legitimate, US and other Western officials leaned on Karzai to consent to a second vote. But when Abdullah pulled out of the race Sunday, they urged Karzai and the election panel to find a legally acceptable way to cancel the vote and declare Karzai the winner to avoid risking more lives.

Senator John F. Kerry of Massachusetts, chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, helped to persuade Karzai to accept a runoff. Kerry said yesterday that the conclusion of the election gives the Afghan government an opportunity “to demonstrate genuine progress in combating corruption, establishing rule of law, and bringing measurable improvement to peoples’ lives.’’

Obama welcomed Karzai’s election with as much admonishment as praise, telling America’s war partner that he expects a more serious effort to reform his government and ready his nation to defend itself when international troops ultimately withdraw.

“I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter,’’ Obama said in describing his congratulatory phone call to Karzai. When Karzai offered assurances, Obama told him that “the proof is not going to be in words. It’s going to be in deeds.’’

But Obama’s words appeared to be a warning that the American public would not support a significant increase in resources unless it is satisfied that a credible Afghan government is fully committed to tackle the problems of corruption and bad governance, which have swelled insurgent ranks.

Material from the Associated Press was included in this report.