The final presidential election result was announced after a one-day delay over fraud investigations into the first round of voting to find a successor to Hamid Karzai. Full result of the election was released late last month which however was acceptable to large portion of the society and some candidates but there were some others including the front runner Dr. Abdullah Abdullah who had consideration with the result.

In the preliminary results, none of the eight candidates gained more than 50 per cent of the vote, pointing to a second round run-off between the two top names as Afghanistan undergoes its first democratic transfer of power.

So, now the two front runners Dr. Abdullah Abdullah are engaged in the head to head dialogue with candidates who gained part of the first round of the election. However it is not clear how much it affect vote banks but certainly is positive in popularizing the candidate.

Before the presidential election, many believed that government might interfere in the electoral process and will support a particular candidate. They maintained that any candidate who had the support of the palace would have had the highest chance to become the next president.  When Qayom Karzai the brother of President Karzai stepped down in the favor of Zalmai Rasoul the former Minister to Foreign Affairs ministry, the edge of harsh criticisms turned toward Mr. President. It was believed that he was behind the decision of Qayom Karzai. Otherwise it was not possible that he calls off the presidential campaign as community elders approved him to become the new president.  Though Mr. President strongly rejected the allegations but no one believed. Many believed that Mr. President was engineering the presidential election including candidates who were irritated from political drama of the palace as well as those who could get his consent for becoming the next president.

Anyhow, course of the time proved that no one can stand against strong resolution of people. Meanwhile Mr. President never held a step that foment tensions or ruin the result of the elections. However, legally he appointed the head as well as other higher ranking officials of both Election Commissions---Afghanistan Independent Election Commission (IEC), Independent Election Complaint Commission (IECC) ---but avoided using them as tool to bring his favorite candidate on power.  Those who talked about the backstage conspiracy by a particular on the top Mr. President also were expressing the favorite candidate of the palace was Zalmai Rasoul. As the result of the election showed that he gained only around ten percent of the vote which was remarkably ignorable considering the allegations circulated around.

Anyhow, the final result of the election has been announced and based on statement of election commission statements no changes have been made to status of the candidates. Hence, election commissions should prepare for the second round of the election which is of course costly as well as indulge the country into another period of confusion.

Presently both Ashraff Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah are engaged in tough negotiation with candidates who gained a percentage of the vote.  Few days ago, Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf said that he is discussing both with Ashraff Ghani and Dr. Abdullah Abdullah. Both of them are trying to take his consent and bring him within his team.  Similar discussions and also agreements made with some other candidates. On Sunday last week, Abdullah received a major boost with the endorsement of third-placed Zalmai Rassoul, a close ally of President Karzai, who has stayed publicly neutral in the election. Another costly, and potentially violent, election could be avoided by deal-making in the coming weeks - and Rassoul's support for Abdullah increased pressure on Ghani to concede. Similarly, Hezb-e-Islami, once a far sweeping political party which had supporters within all ethnic groups also joined hands with Dr. Ashraff Ghani. Within coming days, both sides will concentrate much on attracting other key candidates also make alliance with influential figures as Ahmad Zia Masoud the brother of Ahmad Shah Masoud reportedly joined hands with Ashraff Ghani.

None of the two candidates showed any hesitation to go for the second round. Even Dr. Abdullah Abdullah voiced out that election commissions ceded to pressure otherwise he would have become president in the first round.  Mr. Ashraff Ghani who spent many years studying and teaching in the United States, has repeatedly said he will fight on despite falling behind Abdullah in the first round.  In order to attract the attention of the US, both candidates have pledged to explore peace talks with the Taliban and sign a deal with Washington that could allow up to 10,000 US troops to stay on after this year on a training and counter-terrorism mission.

Meanwhile, the run-off election is surrounded by confusion. First of all, many believe that turnout will decrease in comparison to first round. People want the government to be established and get rid of political hysteria and uncertainty.  They are waiting that government should do something for their poverty instead of wasting time on political wrangling which is of course too costly. Thus, both candidates need a lot to pull people in the polling stations once again.