Afghan poll: Karzai rivals back off

Qanuni said he was speaking for several candidates but not all. But his acquiescence means the end of the most serious opposition to the poll, which was held under the shadow of threats of violence by Taliban insurgents.

An exit poll conducted by the Washington-based International Republican Institute (IRI), a US think tank, showed Karzai heading for a landslide. With more than 12,000 survey responses recorded, Karzai had over 50 per cent of the vote, enough to avoid a run-off with second-placed Qanuni. The election commission, the Joint Election Management Body, earlier announced a panel would investigate irregularities and asked Karzai’s rivals to submit any complaints by Tuesday evening. An official said counting, which could last for three weeks, would start on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Mysore Paints and Varnish Limited , the firm that supplied indelible ink markers for the poll blamed Afghan officials on Monday for using the wrong pens to mark voters’ fingers, leading to charges of irregularities. ‘‘The problems reported in some polling stations was because election officials used ballot marker pens instead of indelible ink markers on voters’ fingers,’’ an official of the company said.