Karzai urges Afghan millions to vote

President Hamid Karzai urged Afghanistan’s millions of voters to flock to polling stations and vote for a better future tomorrow at elections overshadowed by Taliban attacks and threats.

President Hamid Karzai urged Afghanistan’s millions of voters to flock to polling stations and vote for a better future tomorrow at elections overshadowed by Taliban attacks and threats.

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“I hope that tomorrow our countrymen, millions of them, will come to vote for the country’s stability, for the country’s peace, for the country’s progress,” he told reporters in Kabul on the eve of polling.

While Karzai is expected to hold on to power, an energetic campaign by ex-foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah has boosted the chance of a run-off that could take place six weeks down the line.

A spike in Taliban attacks has heightened fears that poor turnout could seriously undermine the legitimacy of the elections.

“I’m requesting everybody to come out and vote. It’s good for all of us,” said Karzai, on the sidelines of a wreath-laying ceremony to commemorate the formal end of Britain’s bid to conquer Afghanistan in 1919.

“I’m requesting all our people, wherever they are -- in villages, in homes, in remote areas, in valleys -- to come out and vote in millions to make this country a greater, better success,” he added.