Karzai looking like a lock for reelection

Times:

President Karzai's re-election campaign in Afghanistan appears almost unassailable amid opposition disarray and with less than a week to go for candidates to register for the battle.

The Afghan President's likely re-election in the August poll follows increasing Western criticism of the corruption and incompetence of his government and despite polling data seen by The Times suggesting that he enjoyed only 15 per cent of popular support at the start of the year.

The US and Britain have been vocal in their scepticism that Mr Karzai can rebuild his war-torn nation. During his election campaign, President Obama said that Mr Karzai had not “gotten out of the bunker and helped to organise Afghanistan in ways that would give people confidence”.

The remarks, and others by US officials and the regional special envoy Richard Holbrooke, were seen widely as signalling a US move to find an alternative to Mr Karzai.

However, that possibility now appears remote and with five days until declarations for presidential candidates end, about 64 people have applied for application papers but only two have so far submitted them. Mr Karzai is expected to register his candidacy today.

A number of potential challengers for the presidency said at the weekend that they would not challenge Mr Karzai's re-election attempt after months of manoeuvring and backroom dealing. They included Gul Agha Sherzai, a powerful provincial governor seen as representing the biggest threat to Mr Karzai's core Pashtun tribal vote.

...

I can understand why not many people would want the job. The chances of overwhelming the inertia of corruption do not look good at this point and the chances of a President cashing in on it aren't that great either. It would be nice to see a commitment to building a bigger defense force and protecting the people.