WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says he spoke to Afghan President Hamid Karzai to congratulate him on his second-term victory and to call for a “new chapter” of better governance after the tumultuous and fraud-ridden election.
Obama said on Monday that he noted to Karzai that the election had been “messy” but that he was “pleased to say the final outcome was determined by Afghan law.”
Karzai was named winner of the August vote on Monday.
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• Afghan election commission declares Karzai winner
Election officials had scheduled a run-off vote for Saturday, but challenger Abdullah Abdullah, the second-place finisher and Karzai’s former foreign minister, pulled out of the second-round vote. Abdullah says there were no guarantees the run-off would be any more legitimate than the first.
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