CNN is reporting that the Afghan Election Commission has told the Associated Press that the runoff election scheduled for Saturday has been canceled.  Yesterday, Hamid Karzai's main rival and presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah, removed himself from the race citing the safety of his followers and the lack of election reforms as the reason for bowing out.  Although he did leave the race for president, his name would have still remained on the ballot and he gave no instructions to his followers who may have decided to vote anyway.  It was widely speculated that Mr. Abdullah was looking for some sort of official power sharing agreement with President Karzai, but that has obviously not been something Mr. Karzai was willing to do.  Interestingly, Mr. Abdullah did discourage his followers from becoming violent or otherwise actively work against the formal Afghan government in the interests of stability.

As it stands, Mr. Karzai has essentially been handed another 5 year presidential term which may or may not provide a strong partner for the Obama administration in the continuing struggle against extremists in Afghanistan and the Pakistanis tribal areas along the boarder.  President Obama's decision on troop levels and a new strategy in the area was thought to be announced shortly after the Afghan runoff election so as not to been seen as influencing or interfering in local affairs.  With the questions surrounding how reliable a partner the Karzai government has been in the past, it was hoped the runoff election could bring some much needed credibility to the local government.