A mandate for Karzai

last updated 8 January 2015

Kabul

Hamid Karzai, who was declared the winner of Afghanistan’s first presidential election, said this week that he would use his five-year term to rein in the warlords and druglords who still control much of the country. “The Afghan people have placed their trust in us, for which we are very grateful,” Karzai said. “They voted for a government based on laws and institutions, and that is what we are going to provide.” Karzai won more than 55 percent of the vote, and his three top rivals—former education minister Yunus Qanooni, ethnic Hazara chief Mohammed Mohaqeq, and ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum—accepted his victory. Karzai won’t reveal his new Cabinet until after his inauguration, later this month, but he said it would not include the faction leaders who obstructed his efforts while he was interim president.