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| Afghanistan |
| A Second Candidate Withdraws in Karzai's Favor |
| 2009-07-30 |
| [Quqnoos] An Afghan presidential candidate, Baz Mohammad Kofi, stepped out of the race on Wednesday and vowed support for incumbent Karzai In a news conference held on Wednesday morning in the Afghan capital, Kabul, Mr Kofi urged his supporters to vote for Hamid Karzai in the presidential election, slated for August 20. Baz Mohammad Kofi is the fourth Afghan candidate who withdraws from the rivalery, in which 37 others including former cabinet members Abdullah Abdullah, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Ramazan Bashardost are still running for a victory. Nearly two weeks ago, a presidential candidate, Nasrullah Baryalai stepped out in favor of hopeful Abdullah and another one, Daud Mirakay, had withdrawn without revealing whom to support in the historic Afghan polls. Karzai has been able to gain the support of two of his rivals over the past two weeks. Few days ago, another presidential runner, Sayed Hashimi, at the gathering where Karzai was present, stepped out and preferred the Afghan incumbent to lead the country for another five-year term. As the date for the August 20 presidential election is getting closer, coalition-forming among some candidates is expected. It was rumored over the past few weeks that 21 of the 41 presidential candidates will merge to back a single runner, but, according to a spokesman of the group, the members have not reached any general agreement. Afghanistan's second presidential and provincial council elections in the post-Taliban country are going to be held on August 20 amid tight security, as Taliban militants have vowed to disrupt it. As of now, 37 candidates are running for the presidency and more than 3,300 others are competing for the seats of provincial councils in the 34 Afghan provinces. |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #1 Well, this technique worked pretty well for Obama while he was in Chicago. |
| Posted by: Glenmore 2009-07-30 08:20 |