He was then chosen for a two year term as Interim President during the 2002 loya jirga (grand assembly) that was held in Kabul, Afghanistan. After the 2004 presidential election, Karzai was declared winner and became President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. He won a second five-year-term in the 2009 presidential election.
Karzai was born on 24 December 1957 in the Karz area of Kandahar City in southern Afghanistan. He is an ethnic Pashtun of the Popalzai tribe. His father, Abdul Ahad Karzai, served as the Deputy Speaker of the Parliament during the 1960s. His grandfather, Khair Mohammad Khan, had served in the 1919 Afghanistan's war of independence and as the Deputy Speaker of the Senate. Karzai's family were strong supporters of Zahir Shah, the last king of Afghanistan. His uncle, Habibullah Karzai, served as representative of Afghanistan at the UN and is said to have accompanied King Zahir Shah in the early 1960s to the United States for a special meeting with U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
After winning a democratic mandate in the 2004 election, it was thought that Karzai would pursue a more aggressively reformist path in 2005. However, Karzai has proved to be more cautious than was expected. After his new administration took over in 2004, the economy of Afghanistan has been growing rapidly for the first time in many years. Government revenue began increasing every year, although it is still heavily dependent on foreign aid.
During the first term in Karzai's Presidency, public discontent grew about corruption and the civilian casualties in the 2001–present war. In May 2006, an anti-American and anti-Karzai riot took place in Kabul which left at least seven people dead and 40 injured. In May 2007, after as many as 51 Afghan civilians were killed in a bombing, Karzai asserted that his government "can no longer accept" casualties caused by U.S. and NATO operations.
On the eve of the 20 August presidential election, Karzai seemed at once deeply unpopular but also likely to win the majority of the votes. He was blamed by many for the failures that plagued the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the toppling of the Taliban government end 2001, from the widespread corruption and the resurgence of the (neo-)Taliban to the explosion of the poppy trade. His unpopularity and the likelihood of his victory formed an atmosphere with a kind of national demoralization, which could discourage many Afghans from voting and dash hopes for substantial progress after the election.
In this second presidential election, Karzai was announced to have received over 50% of the votes. The election was tainted by lack of security, low voter turnout and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud.
Karzai at the 2011 Afghan Independence Day in Kabul, which is held every year on August 19 to commemorate Afghanistan's independence from British control over its foreign affairs.
Two months later Karzai accepted calls for a second round run-off vote, which was scheduled for 7 November 2009. On 2 November 2009, Karzai's run-off opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, withdrew from the race and election officials announced the cancellation of the run-off race. Karzai, the only remaining contender, was declared the winner a short time later.
In 2007, Karzai said that Iran, so far, has been a helper in the reconstruction process. He acknowledged in 2010 that the Government of Iran has been providing millions of dollars directly to his office. In October 2007, Karzai again rejected Western accusations against Iran, stating, "We have resisted the negative propaganda launched by foreign states against the Islamic Republic, and we stress that aliens' propaganda should not leave a negative impact on the consolidated ties between the two great nations of Iran and Afghanistan." Karzai added, "The two Iranian and Afghan nations are close to each other due to their bonds and commonalities, they belong to the same house, and they will live alongside each other for good. However, just a year prior Karzai warned that, "Iran, Pakistan, and others are not fooling anyone."
"If they don't stop, the consequences will be ... that the region will suffer with us equally. In the past we have suffered alone; this time everybody will suffer with us.... Any effort to divide Afghanistan ethnically or weaken it will create the same thing in the neighboring countries. All the countries in the neighborhood have the same ethnic groups that we have, so they should know that it is a different ball game this time.
Over the years Hamid Karzai has become a well recognized figure. He has received a number of awards and honorary degrees from famous government and educational institutions around the world. The following are some of his awards and honoraria.
A commemorative medallion of the 11 September 2001 attacks from the United States House of Representatives, presented to him by member of the house Jack Kingston on 29 January 2002.
An honorary doctorate in literature from Himachal Pradesh University in India, his alma mater, on 7 March 2003.
In June 2003, Karzai was created an Honorary Knight Grand Cross of the Order of St Michael and St George by Queen Elizabeth II.
On 4 July 2004, Karzai was awarded the Philadelphia Liberty Medal in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In his acceptance speech, Karzai stated: "Where Liberty dies, evil grows. We Afghans have learned from our historical experiences that liberty does not come easily. We profoundly appreciate the value of liberty...for we have paid for it with our lives. And we will defend liberty with our lives.
On 22 May 2005, received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Boston University.
On 25 May 2005, received an honorary degree from the Center for Afghan Studies at the University of Nebraska — Omaha.
On 25 September 2006, received an honorary Doctor of Laws Degree from Georgetown University.
The main areas of criticism surrounding President Karzai involve corruption/nepotism, electoral fraud, and the involvement of his late half brother Ahmed Wali Karzai in the drug trade. According to the New York Times, many members of the Karzai family have mixed their personal interests with that of the state, and become hugely influential and wealthy by murky means. Afghanistan is currently ranked as the second most corrupt country in the world by Transparency International. Furthermore, there is the issue of electoral fraud, which has reached such a level that Afghanistan's status as a democratic state is questionable. In fact, a special court set up personally by Karzai in defiance of constitutional norms has sought to reinstate dozens of candidates who were removed for fraud in the 2010 parliamentary elections by the Independent Electoral Commission.[111] In addition to these issues, there is also the matter of the drug trade. Afghanistan supplies most of the world's opium, and its current production exceeds world demand, creating vast stockpiles of the drug. At the center of this trade was the half brother of President Karzai, Ahmed Wali Karzai.
There's been much debate over Karzai's alleged consultant work with Unocal (Union Oil Company of California since acquired by Chevron in 2005). In 2002, when Karzai became the subject of heavy media coverage as one of the front runners to lead Afghanistan, it was reported that he was a former consultant for them. Spokesmen for both Unocal and Karzai have denied any such relationship, although Unocal could not speak for all companies involved in the consortium. The original claim that Karzai worked for Unocal originates from a 6 December 2001 issue of the French newspaper Le Monde, Barry Lane UNOCAL's manager for public relations states that, "He was never a consultant, never an employee. We've exhaustively searched through all our records. Lane however did say that Zalmay Khalilzad, the former United States Ambassador to the United Nations, was a Unocal consultant in the mid-1990s.
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