Afghanistan Election Runoff Canceled, Karzai Declared President

Hamid Karzai has been officially declared the elected President of Afghanistan, following the cancellation of the planned election run-off.

“We declare Hamid Karzai, [who] got the majority of votes in the first round and [since] he is the only candidate for the second round... be declared as elected president of Afghanistan," said IEC spokesman Azizullah Ludin at Monday's news conference in Kabul.

Afghanistan’s chief electoral officer had confirmed earlier on Monday a decision to cancel the election run-off originally planned for November 7.

The announcements come a day after Hamid Karzai's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, said he would not take part. Dr Abdullah, who had demanded key poll officials quit, said he did not think it would be a free and fair vote.

Earlier, the United Nations Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon said the UN would respect and support any decision by the Afghan Independent Election Commission on whether to organize a second presidential ballot

"The United Nations and the international community will stand together and walk together with the next government and the people of Afghanistan," he saidPresident Karzai had been the favorite to win the run-off after gaining more votes in the first round on August 20.

Hundreds of thousands of votes were discounted from the vote, which was marred by widespread fraud.