KABUL, Oct 25 (AFP) - Afghans were in limbo Monday as they awaited the formal announcement of what everyone already knows: Hamid Karzai will be their first elected president for the next five years.
"They are just waiting, they are confused, they don't know what will happen next, because they don't know what the opposition candidates will do," Kabul resident Freshta, 21, told AFP.
"As I'm hearing from the radio, Hamid Karzai is ahead of the others," truck driver Roozi Khan said, clutching an FM radio.
But more than 24 hours after the US-backed incumbent coasted past the majority mark with a massive 40 percentage point lead over his nearest rival, no one was officially acknowledging one of the most significant moments in Afghanistan's bloody history.
The war-shattered central Asian land had for the first time chosen its own leader, heralding the start of an era of democratically elected government after colonial rule, monarchy, communism, Soviet occupation, civil war and fundamentalist Taliban repression.
The delay in issuing a formal victory declaration was due to a probe into allegations of electoral fraud and the drawn-out counting of the remaining 300,000 ballots, less than three percent of votes.
The election commission has said it will not declare a winner until both issues are finalised, which could still take days.
Karzai himself was still locked in his formidable iron-gated palace, surrounded by gun-wielding crack American bodyguards.
His campaign spokesman Hamid Elmi said a fast-breaking dinner party would be held for supporters to celebrate but only after an announcement by the election commission.
"We don't want to celebrate before that," Elmi told AFP.
Under a muddy grey sky, business was normal in the gridlocked capital.
"Whoever is the winner we want only one president," said Mohammad Saber, 40, an aid organisation employee.
"We don't want 100 presidents to rule each corner of Afghanistan like before," he said, referring to the 1992-1996 civil war when self-appointed local commanders controlled different parts of the country.
While official silence reigned, most Kabulis said they were sure Karzai, long the favourite, had won.
"I believe it's Karzai," Khan, the truck driver, said.
"I'm sure he wins because he is great," Shah Zada, 25, told AFP as he shopped in Bibi Mehro district.
A government newspaper 'Anees' hailed Karzai as the winner, blaring the headline: "Karzai Wins Victory".
Fourteen opposition candidates demanded a boycott in the middle of voting on October 9 - but they managed only to incur the wrath of voters who had flocked in droves to defy Taliban threats and cast their ballots.
The candidates met the investigation panel Monday to discuss their complaints but at least one emerged dissatisfied. They plan to meet among themselves Tuesday to decide on a joint stand.
But sentiment appeared still to be against them in Kabul.
"They are the losers," bank teller Ghulam Hazrat said.
10/25/2004 18:18 GMT - AFP