Word: abdullahã
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Moving east to Afghanistan, we bemoaned the withdrawal of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, the chief opponent of President Hamid Karzai, from a hotly contested race plagued by allegations of fraud, terming the decision premature. Abdullah??€™s concession to Karzai dispossessed the Afghan government of any democratic legitimacy, thus depriving the country of much-needed stability. The implication of this politically expedient maneuver, we concluded, was that the United States could not afford to factor in the chimerical prospect of a stable democracy in Afghanistan as it considers its policy toward the region...
...Middle East policy. As a result, the success of U.S. efforts in the region is inextricably tied to that of the Afghan government and its establishment as a legitimate authority. Unfortunately, the recent withdrawal of Abdullah Abdullah from the Afghan presidential race represents a poor decision on Abdullah??€™s part and a step back on Afghanistan’s road to recovery. Abdullah??€™s decision not to challenge incumbent Hamid Karzai in a runoff election can be explained as a principled protest of the widespread fraud present in the electoral proceedings, but it also means...
...turn of events has left Afghanistan with a leader who, after discounting illegitimate ballots, did not meet the 50 percent vote threshold required to be declared president of Afghanistan after the first round of voting. While there was no guarantee that fraud would not plague the runoff as well, Abdullah??€™s participation in a second round of voting would have enhanced the legitimacy of the election. A runoff, which would have been subject to intense public scrutiny, would have at least represented a new opportunity for a more open election and given the victor some level of legitimacy...
Without a viable opposition opponent like Abdullah, an election would have been pointless. So while Abdullah??€™s decision may have been a politically expedient tactic, especially considering his probable loss, it is neither a service to the Afghan people nor to the stability of its government...
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