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Afghanistan’s Karzai says will run for re-election
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that he will soon register as a candidate for the second-ever presidential election in his war-torn country.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai said on Monday that he will soon register as a candidate for the second-ever presidential election in his war-torn country.
“In a few days I too, will go to register (as a candidate), with my vice-presidents,” Karzai told a news conference with visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown in Kabul.
The US-backed president, Afghanistan’s first democratically-elected leader, whose popularity has declined due to mounting violence and widespread corruption, had hinted that he would run, but had never announced it publicly before.
He said the vote, the second such presidential ballot in strife-torn Afghanistan was “another step towards democracy in Afghanistan.”
Under the constitution, Karzai was supposed to step down on May 20 but the nation’s Supreme Court extended his term until August 20 due to a delay in the polls because of security and logistical problems.
