For Country and Legacy

As the Afghan election looms, the best decision President Karzai could make, both for his country and his legacy, would be to not run.

Next week, the people of Afghanistan will vote in what will be only the second democratic election in their nation’s modern history. The incumbent president, Hamid Karzai, is running for re-election and is widely expected to retain his crown. And justifiably so, some would argue, given his leadership in helping fellow Afghans stand themselves up as the Taliban regime was brought down to its knees.

Karzai’s re-election, however, would not serve Afghanistan’s best interests, and would instead imperil much of the progress the new democracy has achieved in recent years. Therefore, for the sake of both his country and his legacy, Karzai should withdraw from the presidential contest.

Karzai’s presidency has been less than stellar, and his character has often seemed even worse. The drug trade, mounting civil violence, and poor public services have all conspired with allegations of government corruption to envelop him in a cloud of criticism.

Making matters worse, Karzai exacerbated the antipathy toward him by moving aggressively to consolidate power in his executive branch, to the consternation of those whose support he desperately needs to make real the promise of peace and progress in Afghanistan. Legislators in the National Assembly, presidents of provincial and district assemblies, tribal leaders, religious clerics – Karzai has managed to alienate all of them over the course of his presidency.

Even before he was elected president in 2004, nearly everyone hailed Karzai as Afghanistan’s George Washington. Congressmen and commentators alike saw in him what early Americans had seen in Washington: a patriot whose national reputation would hoist him above the political fray, allowing him to navigate the state and its citizens through troubled waters until Afghans could shake themselves free of their Taliban moorings, much like Washington had managed to keep Americans united as they forged their first steps toward nationhood. Karzai took well to the comparison, proudly lining the bookshelves of his palatial presidential office with Washington’s collected writings.

Now years later, as he embarks on the last leg of his re-election campaign, Karzai could not have strayed any further from Washington’s enduring model of service and sacrifice in the national interest.

The peerless Washington set an impossible standard that Karzai can never hope to reach. But surely we can hold Karzai to the standard he set for himself two years into his current mandate. Asked in a Fortune Magazine interview whether he would run for re-election, he replied magnanimously: “I want to have this country stable and constitutionally strong. I want to leave this country with a stable environment of alternative leaders. And I don’t think it is good to be running all the time. Let other people get a chance to run.”

Neither before nor since has Karzai spoken wiser words. He would do well to follow his own counsel.

Were Karzai to exit the presidential election, at least two salutary consequences would ensue. First, his departure would immediately place the outcome of the election in doubt. Little else is more important for an emerging democracy than to create both the perception and reality of competitive elections, conducted freely, fairly, and transparently. Karzai’s incumbency makes this impossible.

Second, were Karzai to bow out, the race would turn to Afghanistan’s future and away from its past. With Karzai as the incumbent, the election has become a referendum on his record. The relentless focus on his failures, successes, and missed opportunities deprives Afghans of the debate they really need to hear: how each candidate sees the future of the state and its citizens, and how each proposes to turn that vision into reality.

Karzai’s withdrawal would also accrue long-term advantages to Afghanistan. Running a truly competitive presidential election so early into Afghanistan’s transition to democracy will leave the nation better positioned to entrench the democratic values that sustain liberal democracies: civic engagement, a participatory political culture, free and fair elections, and the rule of law.

Karzai could bequeath no greater gift to Afghanistan than to stand down. Doing so would demand of him service and sacrifice of Washingtonian proportions. If it was hard for Washington to cede the powers and privileges of the presidency, it will be considerably harder for Karzai. But for Karzai, just as it was for Washington, it is the right thing to do both for his country and his own legacy.