Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) has  called off a runoff scheduled for November 7, 2009 after Dr. Abdullah Abdullah the only challenger withdrew from run-off. Consequently IEC has declared  Hamid Karzai elected as president of Afghanistan.

The Independent Election Commission’s chief Azizullah Ludin told a news conference:

The Independent Election Commission declares the esteemed Hamid Karzai as the president … because he was the winner of the first round and the only candidate in the second round.

Dr. Abdullah quit the election process because of his doubts over the legitimacy of the election. Though Mr. Karzai has been declared the president, he has lost the legitimacy and will not be able to make any decisions or govern the country effectively without the support of Dr. Abdullah.