Abdullah Abdullah withdrew on November 1, 2009 from the runoff election in Afghanistan. Interestingly, Hilary Clinton and a spokesman for President Karzai characterized Abdullah’s withdraw in virtually identical terms—namely, as “his personal decision.” Such a stance makes sense because both the American Government and Karzai had an interest in the Afghan electoral process being perceived as legitimate. It is interesting, however, that the identical interpretation was instantly available to the press. Perhaps U.S. Senator John Kerry had urged Karzai to agree to the runoff by telling him of a secret deal between the American Government and Abdullah that would have Abdullah pull out with a statement affirming the legitimacy of the electoral system. That is, I wonder if the U.S. senator promised Abdullah something that essentially short-circuited the electoral process. Karzai would look like a statesman without having to risk losing power, and Abdullah would get something rather than a probable election defeat. The US would get stability in a Karzai government without having to worry about another controversial election. As it turned out, Abdullah did not keep to the script; he denounced the continued corruption in the continued occupants of the Karzai-hired electoral commission (a blatant conflict of interest for any electoral body, to be sure). Also, the runoff itself was cancelled. Was this part of the deal? If so, the deal I suspect took place was very well hidden, or subterranean in nature and intention.
The full essay is at "Duplicity amid Strained Democracy in Afghanistan."
