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According to the US, Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who has been declared as the winner in the elections, is the legitimate leader of the nation.
"President Karzai has been declared the winner of the Afghan election and will head the next government of Afghanistan," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said. "So, obviously, he's the legitimate leader of the country."
Former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah had disclosed that he was not a part of the Presidential race anymore, just before the second round of voting was held on Sunday. He said that he was quitting the race as he did not belie that the voting results would be a fair one. So the election officials of Afghan had no other option than hailing Karzai as the winner.
The first round of voting which had happened during August 09 was considered as not fair and the ballots were tossed.
The problematic electoral process has raised questions about Karzai's legitimacy at a time when The US President Barack Obama was reviewing the administration's policy in Afghanistan and needs credible leadership in Kabul.
Karzai was forced into a run-off with Abdullah after ballots were tossed out that originally handed him an outright victory in the Aug 20 election. Under pressure from Washington, Karzai agreed to accept the run-off.
The Obama administration was concerned about an alliance with a government headed by someone viewed by the Afghan people as an illegitimate leader.
Obama is weighing whether to send 40,000 additional troops to Afghanistan to step up the fight against the Taliban.
