This result is interesting for another reason.

Zalmai Rassoul, whom outgoing President Hamid Karzai has groomed as his successor, with less than 10% vote, and hardline Islamist, Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, with barely five per cent vote are in the third and fourth places on the victory stand.

There have been complaints of poll irregularities and fraud. The Independent Election Complaints Commission has put the total number of complaints at 3,724 complaints, some seven hundred more than the complaints lodged during the 2009 poll.  

For an outsider this number may look big and may be cause for concern over the nature of the poll. But the ground situation needs to be factored in. The candidates have campaigned under the shadow of Taliban, which used all the tricks in its trade to prevent people from going to the polling booth. There are reports that the Taliban had even distributed money particularly in constituencies which are close to its hideout across the Durand Line in Pakistan.

All this did not lead to low turnout.

In fact, the people have delivered a clear message- they want to usher in a new chapter.

Otherwise, Sayyaf, who is credited with inviting Osama bin Laden to set his foot on the Afghan soil would not have been relegated to the also ran category.

From what one gathers from Kabul, it is clear that Karzai will remain a major force even after the elections.  Abdullah has therefore done the right thing by reaching out to Karzai, who had humbled him in the 2009 ballot.

He needs Karzai on his side to rally, if not substantial, at least considerable sections of Pashtuns in his support.  In public perception not only at home even abroad, Abdullah is seen as a Tajik and has been identified with the Northern Alliance. Yet, he can lay as much claim to the Pashtun legacy as any Pashtun leader since his father was an ethnic Pashtun while his mother is a Tajik.

What role Karzai can play in the Afghan affairs is too early to forecast.  

As Abdullah said in an interview, Karzai has served Afghanistan for the past 13 years, which were a testing period. His expertise and advice will be of great help to the incoming government.   

In the interview, the front runner in presidential sweepstakes had dropped broad hints on how he would go about his task in the days ahead.  He said that he would shun politics of vengence, revenge, and retribution.

This is a healthy plank. Not only in Afghanistan but also across other countries in South Asia, newly voted governments have the habit of hounding their predecessors by slapping real and imaginary cases. Karzai regime has its share of corruption scandals. In fact, his brothers have been in the eye of corruption allegations.