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Harper congratulates Karzai on controversial election win
OTTAWA – The Harper government side-stepped questions about the legitimacy of Hamid Karzai's election victory as it congratulated the Afghan president Monday.
Instead, Prime Minister Stephen Harper called on Karzai to strengthen "efforts to combat corruption" and to redouble the drive to deliver basic services to the country's war-weary population.
His message followed a similar expression of stern solidarity from U.S. President Barrack Obama, who said the decision to forgo a second round of voting on Nov. 7 will be the beginning of "a new chapter" in the eight-year-old war.
Obama telephoned Karzai shortly after the country's independent election decided to cancel the run-off ballot, something that was expected when the president's main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race.
Karzai offered his assurances for a better future, but Obama said he told him: "the proof is not going to be in words, it's going to be in deeds."
The fact that Karzai agreed to participate in a second round of voting should be recognized as a gesture of good faith and commitment, Harper suggested.
"While these Afghan-led elections were not without challenges, it is important to consider how far the Afghan electoral process has come since the fall of the Taliban," the prime minister said in a statement.
Karzai won a second term Monday when Abdullah pulled out, suggesting a run-off election would be doomed by fraud just as the first voting in August was. The handling of the first election cost Karzai in international credibility.
With Harper away attending to the Royal visit in Newfoundland and Labrador, it fell to Trade Minister Stockwell Day, the chair of the cabinet committee on Afghanistan, to answer questions in the House of Commons.
He offered no reflection on doubts over Karzai's legitimacy, other than to say it was Abdullah's decision to withdraw and the Canadian government supported the decision of the Afghan people to choose their own leaders.
But NDP Leader Jack Layton said the stench of corruption is going to leave a lot of Canadians "scratching their heads" about what kind of partner the country has in this war.
Still, the White House put its weight behind the legitimacy of the final outcome. Obama called the process "messy" but said Karzai won in accordance with Afghan law.
The collapse of the planned run-off increases pressure on the Obama administration to quickly end its lengthy deliberations about whether to commit more U.S. forces to a worsening war. Obama may announce his revamped war strategy, including a decision on sending more troops, early next week before a planned overseas trip.
That, in turn, will put more pressure on the Harper government to outline clearly what Canada's role will be when the current Parliamentary mandate expires in late 2011.
Harper and Defence Minister Peter MacKay have repeatedly stated that the combat mission will end and be replaced by a development and diplomatic mission.
But defence experts, including retired general Rick Hillier, question whether that is possible without the involvement of combat troops.
Layton put it to MacKay in the Commons: "Does he actually think our soldiers can be there without fighting?"
MacKay stuck to the government's well-worn talking points and side-stepped the question, insisting that the combat mission will end.
Karzai has led Afghanistan since U.S. forces invaded to oust the Taliban in 2001. He won election in 2004, and his latest victory will give him another five-year mandate.
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