Afghan president refuses to step down before election

Afghan President Hamid Karzai rejected the call for his resignation from his 16 challengers, insisting that Afghanistan's law allows him to stay until the new President is elected.

"President cannot resign before the presidential election as the article 161 of the constitution clearly says that president continues to office unless the elected president assumes charge," Jawed Ludin, Karzai's spokesman said Thursday.

He made the remarks one day after Karzai's opponents in the presidential race called on him to step down ahead of the Oct. 9 presidential election.

A total of 16 challengers out of 17 were present at the first meeting on Wednesday, coinciding with the Afghan National Independence Day, to send the message to Karzai.

"The law of the land requires Mr. Karzai to resign ahead of elections if he desires to contest the race," Karzai's arch rival Abdul Sattar Sirat told reporters here, stressing that they would boycott the election if Karzai refused their request.

While dismissing the demand as unconstitutional, Ludin downplayed the rivals' threat by saying that "this is their personal decision and people (of Afghanistan) would not follow them."

Source: Xinhua