Obama Warns Karzai to Focus on Tackling Corruption - NYTimes.com

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By JEFF ZELENY and ALISSA J. RUBIN

WASHINGTON — President Hamid Karzai was assured of a new term as president of Afghanistan on Monday, but he embarks on it not with warm congratulations from Washington but with an admonition from President Obama to undertake “a much more serious effort” to eradicate corruption in the Kabul government.

Mr. Obama placed a congratulatory call and, he said in the Oval Office, urged Mr. Karzai “to write a new chapter” in the legitimacy of his government. Mr. Obama said he noted that the election had been "messy," but said that the United States accepted the decision because it was “determined by Afghan law.”

Mr. Obama placed his call not long after the Independent Election Commission in Kabul cleared the last obstacle to a second term for Mr. Karzai, announcing that there was no need for a runoff now that his only competitor had withdrawn from the race.

While this was the outcome the international community had lobbied for, it was only the beginning of a new set of problems both for Mr. Karzai, who has been weakened by the election debacle, and for the western governments who have been supporting him.

The Obama administration wants Mr. Karzai and the Afghan government to put into place an anticorruption commission to establish strict accountability for government officials at both the national and provincial levels, senior administration officials said Monday.

In addition, the United States and its European allies are seeking a symbolic gesture from Mr. Karzai, and pressuring the Afghan leader to make a few high-profile arrests of what one administration official called "the more blatantly corrupt" people in the Afghan government.

“I did emphasize to President Karzai that the American people and the international community as a whole want to continue to partner with him and his government in achieving prosperity and security in Afghanistan,” Mr. Obama said.

“But I emphasized that this has to be a point in time in which we begin to write a new chapter based on improved governance, a much more serious effort to eradicate corruption, joint efforts to accelerate the training of Afghan security forces, so that the Afghan people can provide for their own security,” the president said.

Mr. Obama said Mr. Karzai had assured him that he understood “the importance of this moment.”

“But as I indicated to him, the proof is not going to be in words; it’s going to be in deeds,” Mr. Obama said. “And we are looking forward to consulting closely with his government in the weeks and months to come, to assure that the Afghan people are actually seeing progress on the ground.”

A senior member of Mr. Karzai’s re-election campaign, Arsala Jamal, acknowledged in Kabul that the president’s victory was marred by the cases of fraud and the months it took to reach a result.

“Three months after the Aug. 20 election, this has not been a good experience for the people,” he said.

“It was damaged because of fraud, because of stupid friends,” he said, explaining that overeager supporters had committed fraud unnecessarily for the president.

“The delay was part of it, the opposition too,” he said, adding that Mr. Karzai’s main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, had damaged the process by denouncing the first round of the election publicly before the election commission had completed its investigations.

Mr. Abdullah withdrew Sunday from the runoff slated for Saturday and the Independent Election Commission, citing concerns about security and the expense of holding an election when there was only one candidate, declared Mr. Karzai the winner on Monday.

The international community and the United Nations congratulated Mr. Karzai and urged him to set about unifying the country, but the way ahead was foggy at best. While there was little doubt that Mr. Karzai would be embraced internationally as the legitimate leader, many serious questions have been raised about the legitimacy of his government.

There had been talk of forming a unity government, but there is little popular support in Afghanistan for that option. For many Afghans a coalition government brings to mind the chaotic period in the 1990s when competing warlords theoretically controlled the country, but in fact no one controlled it and armed strongmen competed for turf in bloody battles that killed many Afghan civilians and destroyed large sections of Kabul.

Afghan political analysts as well as some ordinary people said, the election had undermined Afghans’ faith in democracy and strengthened the leverage of international players — although no one seemed to know how they would be better able to influence Mr. Karzai.

“This massive fraud has detracted from his authority and prestige,” said Hamidullah Tarzi, an Afghan political analyst who served as a minister in two previous governments and said he likes Mr. Karzai.

Jeff Zeleny reported from Washington and Alissa J. Rubin reported from Kabul. Reporting was contributed by Taimoor Shah and Sangar Rahimi from Kabul, and Alan Cowell from Paris.