Hamid Karzai is to remain president of Afghanistan. The news follows the Afghan election commission’s announcement that there would be no second round of elections. This was prompted by opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah’s decision to withdraw from the race.

Mr Abdullah said there were no guarantees the second round would be free and fair after the widespread electoral fraud that marred the first round on 20 August. His decision meant there was only one candidate left in the run-off: Hamid Karzai. Therefore, with the second round scrapped, he remains president.

Mr Karzai has received congratulations from all over the world. NATO and the United Nations have also sent their best wishes. Germany said it believes Mr Karzai will do his best to form a government with the opposition. France agrees with this and is calling on the international community to work with Mr Karzai to that end. Dutch Foreign Minister Maxime Verhagen thinks Mr Karzai can count on sufficient support from the Afghan population.

The United States has called Mr Karzai the “legitimate president” and wants to hold tough negotiations about the deployment of US troops in Afghanistan.

However, before it makes a decision about sending extra troops, Washington first wants to conduct wide-ranging talks about Afghan government policy, the tackling of corruption and the country’s society in general.

Photo of Hamid Karzai with UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon by EPA