Afghan President declares candidacy for re-election

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has formally registered as a candidate to stand for re-election to the job in August.

He is a Pashtun, one of Afghanistan’s largest ethnic groups and he has chosen members of the second and third ethnic groups as his vice-presidential candidates, giving the ticket a broad balance. One of them, the powerful Tajik warlord Mohammed Qasim Fahim, led the US-backed Afghan forces which toppled the Taliban in 2001. So far, no opposition candidates have registered. Flanked by his running mates, Karzai said: “For the sake of the Afghan people and to serve them better, I feel I have to offer myself as a candidate for the Afghanistan presidential elections and to seek a term in office for another five years.” Their task is big. In Laghman province, a 14-year-old boy blew himself up killing at least 20 people, including a provincial mayor. Karzai has been in charge ever since the fall of the Taliban. He was elected president in the first democratic vote in 2004. However his popularity has waned in recent years following a rise in civilian casualties caused by international forces and claims of corruption within the government.

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