Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah will announce tomorrow his decision whether to take part in next week's run-off vote against President Hamid Karzai, his campaign said in a statement today.
Speculation has mounted Mr Abdullah would pull out of the run-off vote, called after widespread fraud marred August's first round. The statement said the former foreign minister would hold a loya jirga, or grand assembly of elders, before announcing his decision.
Afghanistan has been hit by weeks of political uncertainty after widespread fraud marred the first round, with security another major concern after a resurgent Taliban vowed to disrupt next Saturday’s run-off vote.
With Afghanistan's political future hanging in the balance, President Barack Obama is also weighing whether to send thousands more troops to Afghanistan. Mr Obama met US military leaders in Washington yesterday.
Mr Abdullah, who is Mr Karzai's former foreign minister, had been due to leave for India today for a leadership conference but his aides said he cancelled the trip and would likely hold a media conference in Kabul tomorrow.
"He is staying because of the election," Mr Abdullah's spokesman Ali Farhad Howaida said.
Western officials have pointed out that Mr Abdullah has not opened any campaign offices in Afghanistan since the run-off was called last week. Neither candidate has campaigned openly.
"The signs are there. (Abdullah's) not doing any campaigning. Everyone is looking at the two camps and willing them to do some form of accommodation that will avoid a run-off," one Western diplomat said.
The run-off was triggered when a UN-led fraud investigation found widespread fraud, mainly in favour of Mr Karzai, had been committed during the first round in August.
Diplomats and analysts have said that, according to the constitution, it was possible the run-off might go ahead with Mr Karzai as the only candidate if Mr Abdullah pulls out. They fear that would have a serious impact on the government's legitimacy.
"If Abdullah boycotts, voter turnout will be very low and Mr Karzai will be declared winner but with a very low legitimacy," said Haroun Mir, a Kabul-based analyst and director of Afghanistan's Centre for Research and Policy Studies.
Talk of a possible power-sharing deal between the two men has also grown as a possible solution to the deadlock.
The US embassy in Kabul said in a statement it would continue to work with Afghans to conclude the election process."If the two candidates agree a solution that is acceptable to both of them, in the interests of Afghanistan and is constitutionally sound, then that is a matter for them," it said.
Western diplomats have said privately Mr Abdullah may have overplayed his hand when he gave Mr Karzai an ultimatum last week to sack Afghanistan's top election official and three ministers in a bid to avoid a repeat of the first-round fraud.
That deadline expires tomorrow but Mr Karzai has already indicated he would not give in to the demand. Mr Abdullah has not said what he would do if the officials were not sacked.
Citing an unidentified Western source it said was close to the Afghan leadership, CNN reported yesterday that talks between the two candidates had broken down and that Mr Abdullah, whose support comes mainly from the Tajik north, would likely pull out.
Mr Karzai's support mainly comes from Pashtuns, Afghanistan's largest ethnic group and the country's traditional rulers, in the south and east where the Taliban-led insurgency is strongest.
Neither camp would comment on those meetings but behind-the-scenes diplomatic efforts to convince them to work together to break the deadlock increased this week.
Reuters