Word: abdullah
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While claiming he personally respects Karzai, Abdullah focuses on how little the President has been able to achieve in the past seven years (as both a nominated interim leader and an elected President) and promises that he will put an end to corruption and injustice. "Give me the power, so that I can return the power to you," he declares at his rallies - a catchphrase that has become another slogan. Yet even his supporters are vague about how, exactly, he plans to fulfill those promises. Saied Hussain Fakhri, 20, a campaign worker at the Kabul office, as well...
...most concrete policy proposal Abdullah offers is a promise to move to a parliamentary system. And while the idea does have some merit in a country that would benefit from more decentralized rule, it raises the question of whether a sitting President would actually be willing to relinquish power. In an interview with TIME on the sidelines of the Panshir rally, Abdullah dismissed such skepticism: "Everybody else wants to bring more power to the presidency. What I am saying is that unless the people rule, this country cannot be ruled." More popular still, Abdullah has promised to establish direct elections...
Like most rallies, the recent Panshir event was followed by a free lunch of the ubiquitous pullau for all attendees. Yet teacher Abdul Khai, who calls Abdullah "a good mujahedin," says most people came for Abdullah, not the food. Abdullah's mother was a Tajik from Panshir, and he is considered to be a native son. "All the Panshiris support Abdullah," Khai said with pride. "We fought the Russians on talkhan [a paste made of crushed dried mulberries and walnuts] alone. We Panshiris don't care about food...
...While Abdullah's father is a Pashtun from Kandahar, the doctor is more often associated with Panshir because of his close relationship with the late Panshiri mujahedin commander Ahmad Shah Massoud, who not only helped defeat the Soviets but was also the Taliban's most effective enemy. Massoud was assassinated, some say as a gift from al-Qaeda to the Taliban, by suicide bombers posing as TV journalists on Sept. 9, 2001. Massoud has been the cornerstone of Abdullah's campaign: his image shadows that of Abdullah's on many campaign posters, and before Abdullah spoke at last week...
Though violence has stalked Abdullah's campaign - a campaigner was shot and injured in an attack in nearby Laghman province while Abdullah was in Panshir - that is hardly unusual in Afghanistan: Fahim's retinue too has been attacked, as have several aides to Ashraf Ghani. But expected violence in the country's south may be of benefit to Abdullah. Election authorities estimate that some 700 out of 7,000 polling stations nationwide will not be able to open on the day of elections due to violence, most in the Pashtun-dominated south where Karzai is favored, possibly depriving...