After 11 years of war: Taliban leaders can run for Afghan president
President Karzai is constitutionally barred from running in election and no clear candidate to succeed him has yet emerged.
First Published: 2012-10-31
Middle East Online
By Usman Sharifi – KABUL
The Taliban could stand in Afghanistan's next presidential election in 2014, the country's top poll official said Wednesday, as a series of suspected insurgent bombings killed 17 civilians.
President Hamid Karzai, who is serving his second term as leader of the war-torn nation, is constitutionally barred from running in the election and no clear candidate to succeed him has yet emerged.
The vote, scheduled for April 5, 2014, is seen as crucial to stability after the withdrawal of NATO troops and Fazil Ahmad Manawi, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), insisted his body would act impartially.
"We are even prepared to pave the ground for the armed opposition, be it the Taliban or Hezb-i-Islami, to participate in the election, either as voters or candidates," Manawi told a news conference.
http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=55224
Eleven years can draw a mighty big circle.
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