[Quqnoos] US Secretary of State says a boycott of the Afghan runoff election by Abdullah Abdullah won't de-legitimise the poll, the Daily Telegraph reports. Answering the question on whether the outcome of a runoff with only one candidate would result in a legitimate government, Hillary Clinton said such situations are "not unprecedented" and occur in many countries. "We see that happen in our own country where, for whatever combination of reasons, one of the candidates decides not to go forward. I don't think it has anything to do with the legitimacy of the election," she said.
Before Clinton's statement, the CNN reported that the talks between President Karzai and his challenger in the run-off election, Abdullah Abdullah, have broken down and Abdullah was likely to pull out of next week's poll.
"I'm not going to comment on what any of the candidates might decide to do," Secretary Clinton said, adding, "it's a personal choice which may or may not be made".
Abdullah Abdullah, the former foreign minister put forward several conditions earlier this week for the Nov. 7 runoff to be credible, including calls for sacking the election chief as he described him as having "no credibility".
He also called for the suspension of four cabinet ministers, including Afghan Interior Minister Mohammad Hanif Atmar, accusing them of bias toward Karzai.
Meanwhile, Afghan Election Commission Secretariat, Dawod Ali Najafi, on hearing reports of Abdullah's boycott in the runoff, said that no candidates can pull out.
The Afghan election went to a runoff after the Electoral Complaints Commission tossed out enough votes for President Karzai to require the runoff. The second round is scheduled to be held on Nov. 7. The second round of Afghan election had been termed as the way to give more credibility to the disputed process.