Close aides of Abdullah Abdullah, the only rival of Hamid Karzai in the second round of elections on November 7, have revealed that the contender might choose to stay away from the elections thus boycotting it in principles.
Ahmad Wali Masoud, a close aide to Dr. Abdullah and the brother of famous guerrilla commander Ahmad Shah Masoud told BBC that the concerns of as greater scale of fraud as that of the first round will compel him (Abdullah) to stay away from the second round.
It hasn’t yet been announced by Abdullah Abdullah whether he would avoid the run-off.
Mr. Abdullah has asked for the sacking of Election Commission Chief but Karzai has turned down the plea.
Due to an intensive investigation by the UN backed Electoral Complaints Commission into the allegations of mass fraud in the first round of elections, Hamid Karzai’s initial lead of 54.6% was reduced to below the 51% required vote thus pushing for a decider second round of elections as per the Afghan Constitution.
Though the constitution remains silent on if a candidate boycotts the second round, Abdullah Abdullah is threatening to stay away from a second round which would not be a wise decision according to the lawyers and constitutional experts.
The deadline set for the sacking of Election Commission Chief and suspension of three ministers on the Election Day is today. It’s expected that Abdullah might announce his future moves today.
Earlier the Election Commission had made it clear that the Second Round of Elections will be held as scheduled without least hesitation. However, if Abdullah Abdullah boycotts the second round, a constitutional deadlock may be consequentially in favor of the incumbent President Hamid Karzai.