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Karzai poll lacks 'legal basis' Karzai poll lacks 'legal basis'
(30 minutes later)
Former Afghan foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who quit the presidential poll race recently, says Hamid Karzai's re-election has "no legal basis". Former Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has said Hamid Karzai's re-election is illegal.
Mr Abdullah, Mr Karzai's main rival, said the current government cannot bring legitimacy to the troubled nation and will fail to control corruption. Dr Abdullah was speaking publicly for the first time since Mr Karzai was declared the victor on Monday.
He also criticised the election commission for declaring Mr Karzai the winner of the 20 August poll. He told reporters in Kabul that Mr Karzai's government would lack the legitimacy needed to deal with problems like corruption and terrorism.
On Sunday, Mr Abdullah announced that he was withdrawing from the election. Dr Abdullah also criticised election officials. They declared Mr Karzai the winner a day after his rival withdrew.
The commission proclaimed Mr Karzai the victor on Monday, cancelling a planned runoff and ending a political crisis two and a half months after a fraud-marred first round. "This decision [of the Afghan Independent Election Commission not to have a run-off] does not have a legal basis," Dr Abdullah told reporters.
Hundreds of thousands of votes were discounted from August's first round of voting. "Such a government which lacks legitimacy cannot fight corruption.
An investigation by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) said Mr Karzai's share of the vote was 49.67% - below the crucial 50% plus one vote threshold needed to avoid a second round. "A government which comes to power without the people's support cannot fight the phenomena of terrorism threats, unemployment, poverty and hundreds of other problems," Dr Abdullah said.
'Puppet'
His comments were in response to President Karzai's statement on Tuesday vowing to remove the "stigma" of corruption.
The president also pledged to lead an inclusive government and called on "Taliban brothers" who have been fighting an insurgency against him to "embrace their land".
The Taliban said they would continue their fight and called Mr Karzai "a puppet".
The president's comments came a day after poll officials scrapped a run-off vote that had been planned for this weekend.
Mr Karzai agreed to the second round after hundreds of thousands of votes were discounted from the 20 August first round because of widespread fraud.
After an investigation by the UN-backed Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), Mr Karzai's share of the vote dropped to 49.67% - below the crucial 50% plus one vote threshold needed to avoid a run-off.