Karzai might not run for re-election in 2009

WASHINGTON – Afghan President Hamid Karzai suggested in an interview with Forbes magazine that he might not run for reelection in 2009, and complained of lack of international support on crucial issues facing his country.

“I don’t think it is good to be running all the time,” Karzai told the magazine. “Let other people get a chance to run.””I want to leave a good legacy for Afghanistan.I want to have this country stable and constitutionally strong.I want to have this country left with a stable environment of alternative leaders,” he added in what the magazine said was a strong suggestion that he would not run in Afghanistan’s next election.Karzai, 49, is Afghanistan’s first president since a coalition of international forces and Afghan mujahedin commanders overthrew the extremist Taliban regime in 2001.He admitted to Forbes that there was “corruption in the whole system,” but that his government controlled “the whole country,” despite a growing Taliban insurgency in the south.He said that opium eradication in his country had turned out to be more difficult than he thought at first and that the drug now comprises a third of the Afghan economy and benefited financially “lots of people” in his administration.Although he insisted there were no warlords in his cabinet, Karzai said the rewards they were given by the international community for helping oust the Taliban in 2001 had weakened his government.He said that while his government was successful and ahead of its targets in boosting the economy and raising living standards per capita income doubled to 355 dollars per year since he was elected in December 2004, domestic revenue collection was “absolutely shameful.””We are still among the poorest in the world,” he said.”While we have better roads, we are still the worst in the world.While we have improved our supply of electricity, we are still the worst in the world.”While our education has picked up a lot, we are among the worst.We still have the lowest literacy rates in the world.We are still the worst in child mortality.”If you asked me, has the country succeeded in terms of economic recovery, (I would say) yes, massively.But is Afghanistan a rich place? No.”Nampa-AFP”Let other people get a chance to run.””I want to leave a good legacy for Afghanistan.I want to have this country stable and constitutionally strong.I want to have this country left with a stable environment of alternative leaders,” he added in what the magazine said was a strong suggestion that he would not run in Afghanistan’s next election.Karzai, 49, is Afghanistan’s first president since a coalition of international forces and Afghan mujahedin commanders overthrew the extremist Taliban regime in 2001.He admitted to Forbes that there was “corruption in the whole system,” but that his government controlled “the whole country,” despite a growing Taliban insurgency in the south.He said that opium eradication in his country had turned out to be more difficult than he thought at first and that the drug now comprises a third of the Afghan economy and benefited financially “lots of people” in his administration.Although he insisted there were no warlords in his cabinet, Karzai said the rewards they were given by the international community for helping oust the Taliban in 2001 had weakened his government.He said that while his government was successful and ahead of its targets in boosting the economy and raising living standards per capita income doubled to 355 dollars per year since he was elected in December 2004, domestic revenue collection was “absolutely shameful.””We are still among the poorest in the world,” he said.”While we have better roads, we are still the worst in the world.While we have improved our supply of electricity, we are still the worst in the world.”While our education has picked up a lot, we are among the worst.We still have the lowest literacy rates in the world.We are still the worst in child mortality.”If you asked me, has the country succeeded in terms of economic recovery, (I would say) yes, massively.But is Afghanistan a rich place? No.”Nampa-AFP