Karzai was declared elected by the Independent Election Commission on Monday [REUTERS]

Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) declared Karzai the winner on Monday following Abdullah Abdullah's withdrawal from the November 7 runoff after his conditions for holding "free and fair polling" were not met.

"This decision does not have any legal basis and a government which takes power based on such a commission's decision cannot have legitimacy," Abdullah said on Wednesday in his first public appearance since the announcement.

"Such a government which lacks legitimacy cannot fight corruption.

"A government which comes to power without the people's support cannot fight phenomena of terrorism threats, unemployment, poverty and hundreds of other problems."

Widespread fraud

The discovery of widespread fraud in the first round on August 20 resulted in Karzai's share of the vote falling below the 50 per cent threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

Ballot-box stuffing and distorted tallies led to more than one million votes in favour of the incumbent being thrown out.

The validity of the electoral process and the independence of the IEC have both been called into question.

Abdullah cited the government's refusal to accept his demands for changes to the IEC for his decision to boycott the runoff.

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