Afghan presidential contenders throw hats in ring

Campaigning officially opened yesterday in Afghanistan’s presidential election, with 11 candidates vying to succeed president Hamid Karzai in polls seen as a crucial test of whether Afghanistan can ensure a stable political transition.

The April 5 presidential vote will be held in a climate of uncertainty as Nato combat forces ready their withdrawal at the end of 2014. If successful, the election will usher in the first handover from one elected president to another in Afghan history.

Karzai, who has led Afghanistan more than 13 years after the intervention to oust the Taliban’s extremist Islamic regime for sheltering al-Qaeda’s leadership after the September 11 attacks on the US, is constitutionally barred from running for a third term.