HAMID Karzai has been declared president of Afghanistan for the second term following scrapping of the run-off elections by the Election Commission. This set at rest all speculations about the presidential polls in a country which is already in tatters through war and internal strife.

The run-off election for a new president was scheduled for November 7, but the challenger, former foreign minister Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the second round of voting fearing a repeat of the "massive malpractices" that marred the elections on August 20. This leaves the election without any significance since the run-off polls was between two top candidates only. The Election Commission said that it was scrapping the balloting since the challenger had withdrawn, and declared Karzai as the automatic winner.

The curtain has now fallen on a tumultuous chapter in the present Afghanistan surrounding the presidential elections that raised a lot of dust over the last several weeks because of a variety of reasons -- mainly allegations of massive fraud in the voting in favour of the incumbent president Karzai. But questions will obviously be raised whether this denouement of the much-awaited and much-talked about Afghan presidential election will help strengthen democratic edifice and attain stability for the trouble-torn nation.

The United Nations and Western allies of Kabul were also convinced that the polls were not free and fair even though Hamid Karzai was insisting otherwise. Because of intense pressures from home and abroad, the president had announced that the embattled nation would have second round of polls on November 7. Indeed, the decision was welcomed since the August 20 voting was largely seen as having been influenced by the administration and supporters of the incumbent president.

His main rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah had been clamouring for the run-off polls, charging the president of large-scale irregularities in the balloting. Initially, Dr.Abdullah also expressed readiness for contesting the run-off polls but backed out later, citing fears of the "same experience" of August 20 polling. That decision came somewhat as a surprise as Western nations and the United Nations were keen for the second round of balloting.

Dr. Abdullah might have sensed that the run-off polls were unlikely to give a verdict in his favour. Besides, the visit to Kabul by UN Secretary General Ban-Ki Moon might have also given him the signal that Karzai had international support despite allegations against him of corruption and mal-administration. The message was probably that Karzai has steered the country through difficult times since the drastic change of the Afghan scenario, and he is needed for coming years as the country is still grappling with myriad problems.

The outcome of the presidential elections hung in the balance for several weeks, and it seemed that incumbent President Karzai was heading for the victory in the disputed voting. Unofficial results showed Karzai was ahead of his nearest rival and secured more than the required 50 percent of the secured votes, avoiding a run-off election in the French style. But the whole exercise was embroiled in uncertainty because of allegations of massive rigging and malpractice, which reduced the otherwise important election to a controversial event.

The presidential elections, the second since a sea-change took place in the political landscape following the toppling of the Taleban regime in 2001, was billed as a development that was expected to strengthen the democratic edifice of a country whose history of recent decades is replete with violent developments. The country witnessed presence of foreign troops in large number in contrasting circumstances on one hand and infighting among various groups in a typical milieu of the Afghan scene on the other.

The presence of foreign troops is nothing new in the country. The troops of the former Soviet Union remained in the country in the eighties to support the leftist Kabul government against their Islamic opponents aided by the United States and other Western countries. The Soviet troops left the embattled Afghanistan after ten long years without succeeding in their task.

It is the United States that threw its entire weight behind the Islamic forces against the Soviet-backed Kabul governments. Paradoxically, it sent troops to Afghanistan several years later to fight broadly the same Islamic forces -- albeit more radical and militant in nature. Certainly, the dispatch of the American and other western soldiers to Afghanistan in the aftermath of 9/11 in the United States was largely seen as justified, and the soldiers still remain in the trouble-torn country. More than one lakh soldiers are now fighting the opponents of the Karzai government as peace and stability still elude the nation.

Definitely, Karzai has been the key figure in the Afghan imbroglio for the last several years, and has spared no efforts in leading the country through an extremely tough phase. But his presidency has also seen his countrymen getting disenchanted with him on a variety of matters, like rise of corruption in the higher echelons of the administration. Besides, violence and resistance to the government and its supporters do not seem to be slackening, causing frustration in the people.

Abdullah Abdullah is an experienced person, familiar with the nitty-gritty of Afghan politics and characteristics as he was involved in different crucial phases. He was active during the Soviet-influenced period, being close to legendary guerrilla commander Shah Ahmad Mosood, who later also fought the radical Taleban. Abdullah is also known to different countries, being the foreign minister, and is widely seen as being largely successful in his job. He is a Tajik and from the south while Karzai is from north, with influence over the Pasthuns.

Their rivalry centering the elections has also created undesirable tension between the south and the north among the ruling circles. A run-off election would have further widened this rift and increased acrimony. The supporters of Afghanistan were clearly worried about such a development and now must be heaving sigh of relief over the "dignified back-out" of the challenger.

The United States and its allies have great stakes in Afghanistan, and have tried to minimise the differences and acrimony, centering the elections, among the anti-Taleban base. That is exactly what they have done in the last several days, following a flurry of negotiations with Hamid Karzai, his main challenger, and other relevant quarters.

President Barack Obama, who is under pressure from military commanders and Republicans to dispatch more troops to Afghanistan to fight the Taleban, congratulated Karzai for winning a second five-year term in office but called for curbing corruption and working for a healthier society in Afghanistan, which has received billions of dollars as assistance in the last few years. French President Nicholas Sarkozy and other Western leaders echoed the same.

Karzai is now faced with the greater challenge of delivering the goods and can ill-afford failure, particularly on two fronts -- corruption and effective fight against the Taleban. In his first speech after being announced as the president for the new term, he vowed to eradicate corruption and also offered the olive branch to the Taleban, who, however, are unlikely to respond to his gestures.

The severity and complexities of the Afghan tangle are such that Karzai is entering a more crucial and difficult phase. Certainly, under him social and economic progress is discernible, but a weakening and corrupt administration, likely non-cooperation from Dr. Abdullah and his supporters, and combating the ever-increasing threats of the insurgents pose bigger challenges for him. It remains to be seen how he really confronts this situation after becoming president again, which may remain questionable as far as the legitimacy of the election is concerned.

Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury is a senior journalist and analyst of international affairs.
editor@thedailystar.net