14 politicians to contest in Afghan presidential race

Over two dozen politicians including some former ministers have registered their names to contest in the next Afghan presidential elections set for April 5 next year, and Sunday was the busiest day for the election body when half of the presidential hopefuls offered their candidacy. Registration period for the candidates was set from Sept. 16 to Oct. 5. Prominent among those have stood for the presidential race are two former foreign ministers, namely Abdullah Abdullah and Zalmai Rassoul, and two former finance ministers, namely Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Anwarul Haq Ahadi, ex-defense minister Abdul Rahim Wardak and a former resistance leader and lawmaker Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayaf. All the candidates have almost similar motto which includes working for peace and ensuring national unity and viable security in the country if elected for the top job to lead the country. Afghanistan's third presidential election in the post-Taliban country is slated for April 5, 2014. Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai contested in the previous presidential race in 2009 but were beat by incumbent President Hamid Karzai. Final list of the presidential candidates, according to the Election Complaints Commission, will be made public within the next one and half month. Taliban militants fighting the Afghan government to regain power have already termed the elections as "waste of time" and vowed to disrupt the electoral process. The hardliner Taliban outfit has already killed head of the election body in the northern Kunduz province and abducted two staff of the election entity in the northwest Faryab province.