Hamid Karzai did not gain enough valid votes needed to avoid a run-off
Preliminary results from August’s first round had placed Mr Karzai comfortably over the 50% plus one vote threshold needed to avoid a run-off. Mr Karzai’s vote share has fallen below half, after a number of votes were ruled invalid.
Under poll rules, Mr Karzai now faces a runoff against rival Abdullah Abdullah. In its much-anticipated report on Monday, the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) ordered that ballots from 210 polling stations be discounted.
The panel said it found “clear and convincing evidence of fraud” at the polling stations, which were across the country.
It was not clear how Mr Karzai would respond to the ECC findings, amid reports of a possible legal challenge. Initial results released last month had given him nearly 55% of the votes, with former foreign minister Mr Abdullah on 28%. The Afghan president says he won the election outright, but EU observers have said as many as one in four votes cast were suspicious.
Sources have told the BBC that Mr Karzai is furious over the prospect of facing a second round.
Tthe Afghan leader believes an election victory has been stolen from him and he is threatening to block attempts to hold any second round. But Washington has warned it will not send any more US troops to Afghanistan until a political resolution is reached. In the last few days Western leaders and diplomats have engaged in a furious round of diplomacy to get Mr Karzai to accept the election results.
But our correspondent says that for now that pressure does not seem to have worked and an election which it was hoped would help stabilise Afghanistan has brought yet more political uncertainty. The political paralysis has delayed the formation of a government that the US believes is needed to help combat the growing Taliban insurgency. The ECC launched its investigation after the vote as allegations of mass fraud began to emerge.
The panel reports to the Independent Election Commission (IEC), which will make the final announcement on the election’s outcome. The IEC is widely regarded as pro-Karzai, but it is legally bound to accept the ECC’s findings.
