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Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said Monday that he was withdrawing from an election runoff because the demands he made for a fair vote had not been met by the government and election officials, according to Reuters.
"I will not take part in the election. ... I have not come to this decision easily," Abdullah told supporters in Kabul, adding that he was not telling anyone to boycott the November 7 polling.
A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said that the president regrets Abdullah's withdrawal but the election should still take place.
"We believe that the election has to go on; the process must complete itself," Karzai's chief campaign spokesman, Waheed Omar, told Al-Jazeera television. "The people of Afghanistan have to be given the right to vote."
However, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) later said that the presidential run-off will take place as scheduled.
"The deadline to withdraw has passed, therefore the commission is determined to conduct a runoff election," IEC Chief Electoral Officer Daoud Ali Najafi told reporters.
Pressure had been growing on Abdullah to pull out of the contest against Karzai, seen by analysts as the favorite to win the runoff after getting the most votes in the fraud-marred first round August 20.
While behind-the-scenes diplomatic moves to resolve the deadlock intensified over the past week, one Western diplomatic source said talks between Karzai and Abdullah had broken down.
"Abdullah has realized how painful a second round will be for the country. The issue for Abdullah now is how he withdraws: by saving face gracefully or boycotting the runoff," a Western official in Kabul, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
Analysts and diplomats have said that withdrawing from the contest, perhaps as part of a power-sharing deal in return for a top government post in Karzai's next administration, would spare the country further political pain and insurgent violence.
Later Monday, UN Special Representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide commented that the UN wants a "legal and timely" conclusion to the poll.
"This is clearly a decision he has taken after a long period of discussion and reflection," Eide said. "The next step must be to bring this electoral process to a conclusion in a legal and timely manner."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown then urged Abdullah to support the democratic process in Afghanistan.
"This decision was clearly carefully considered, and I welcome Abdullah's readiness to play a continued role in the national dialogue," Brown said. "I am confident that Afghanistan's leaders will support the remaining steps of the democratic process."
The Taliban, however, threatened again Monday to carry out more attacks if the presidential runoff continues.
"We will not allow the second round to pass peacefully," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by phone. "We will increase our attacks on the election process, and we will ensure the election is a failure."
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Ballot or bullet... Will Abdullah take up arms against Karzai?
"I will not take part in the election. ... I have not come to this decision easily," Abdullah told supporters in Kabul, adding that he was not telling anyone to boycott the November 7 polling.
A spokesman for President Hamid Karzai said that the president regrets Abdullah's withdrawal but the election should still take place.
"We believe that the election has to go on; the process must complete itself," Karzai's chief campaign spokesman, Waheed Omar, told Al-Jazeera television. "The people of Afghanistan have to be given the right to vote."
However, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) later said that the presidential run-off will take place as scheduled.
"The deadline to withdraw has passed, therefore the commission is determined to conduct a runoff election," IEC Chief Electoral Officer Daoud Ali Najafi told reporters.
Pressure had been growing on Abdullah to pull out of the contest against Karzai, seen by analysts as the favorite to win the runoff after getting the most votes in the fraud-marred first round August 20.
While behind-the-scenes diplomatic moves to resolve the deadlock intensified over the past week, one Western diplomatic source said talks between Karzai and Abdullah had broken down.
"Abdullah has realized how painful a second round will be for the country. The issue for Abdullah now is how he withdraws: by saving face gracefully or boycotting the runoff," a Western official in Kabul, who asked not to be identified, told Reuters.
Analysts and diplomats have said that withdrawing from the contest, perhaps as part of a power-sharing deal in return for a top government post in Karzai's next administration, would spare the country further political pain and insurgent violence.
Later Monday, UN Special Representative to Afghanistan Kai Eide commented that the UN wants a "legal and timely" conclusion to the poll.
"This is clearly a decision he has taken after a long period of discussion and reflection," Eide said. "The next step must be to bring this electoral process to a conclusion in a legal and timely manner."
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown then urged Abdullah to support the democratic process in Afghanistan.
"This decision was clearly carefully considered, and I welcome Abdullah's readiness to play a continued role in the national dialogue," Brown said. "I am confident that Afghanistan's leaders will support the remaining steps of the democratic process."
The Taliban, however, threatened again Monday to carry out more attacks if the presidential runoff continues.
"We will not allow the second round to pass peacefully," Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by phone. "We will increase our attacks on the election process, and we will ensure the election is a failure."
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Ballot or bullet... Will Abdullah take up arms against Karzai?
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