Zeenews Bureau
Kabul: President Hamid Karzai and leading Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah on Thursday cast their ballot in the Afghan polls.
While President Hamid Karzai called on Afghans to defy Taliban threats and vote, Abdullah Abdullah hailed the day as “day of change”.
"Enemies will do their best, but it won't help," Karzai told reporters late on Wednesday.
“I hope that tomorrow our countrymen, millions of them, will come and vote for the country's stability, for the country's peace, for the country's progress."
Abdullah voted at a Kabul polling station alongside his
wife and young son amid a throng of journalists and security
men.
"It is a day of change, a day of hope," the former
Foreign Minister told reporters after he cast his ballot.
Although there are 41 names on the presidential ballot
paper, 11 of the candidates have pulled out in favour of
others.
Abdullah is considered the top challenger to Karzai's bid
for a second term with some polls predicting he alone can stop
the incumbent from securing the more than 50 percent of the
vote he needs to avoid a run-off.
Abdullah said the vote the second presidential election
in turbulent Afghanistan was a "positive" occasion but worried
about attacks from insurgents bent on disrupting the election.
In Kabul, police killed two gunmen during a nearly
two-hour standoff, in an apparent bid to dissuade Afghans from
going to the polling stations.
Abdullah also alleged violations in Karzai's campaign,
which has been accused of misusing government resources for
the vote.
Karzai faces an unexpectedly strong challenge from Abdullah Abdullah.
Polls, the most recent conducted more than a month ago, show Karzai winning by a wide margin, but not by enough to secure victory in a single round.
Should he fail to win more than 50 percent, Karzai would most likely face Abdullah in a run-off in October.
First Published: Thursday, August 20, 2009, 14:27