The US State Secretary nominee Senator John Kerry has said if the Government in Kabul fails to conduct free, fair and legitimate elections, all Western governments will totally abandon Afghanistan on its own after 2014 withdrawal of troops.

It is the clearest statement from a soon-to-be US Secretary of State in strongest terms advising the Karzai Administration about the international reaction if the coming presidential elections were not held in a transparent process. The statement comes from a person who had characteristically soft-corner for President Karzai in the past, particularly Senator Kerry’s role after the controversial elections of 2009.

In his nomination hearing before the Senate foreign relations committee, John Kerry said that the most important factor and turning point for Afghanistan’s stability would be the presidential elections next year.  He said, “Having an acceptable election – it's not going to be perfect, we're not going to be able to have perfection in this process for a lot of different reasons – but having an election that passes accountability and is acceptable according to international standards and observers will be critical to our ability to have the kind of transition we want to have, and to have confidence that the government that succeeds in 2014 has legitimacy. If it doesn't have legitimacy, if we don't succeed in that effort, it's going to be very very difficult to convince the American people, and to convince our allies in ISAF and beyond, to stay engaged in this effort.”

The international community engaged in Afghanistan, particularly the US, needs to ensure a smooth transition of power in Kabul in 2014 to avoid our descent into chaos. There is uncertainty among Afghans, even the political elite in Kabul including government allies; about the post-withdrawal situation. The challenge is not threats of Taliban takeover, but political instability in Kabul, which can derail the entire process of last decade and the system could face difficulties and may even take the country back to 90s’ situation. In that regard, Afghanistan cannot afford another controversial election next year. However, signs of problems are already visible. The stubbornness of the current administration on removal of the Electoral Complaints Commission and usage of old voter registration cards are interference to influence the upcoming polls.

The government in Kabul should take warnings from international community seriously. John Kerry also mentioned his role in aftermath of 2009 elections crisis. He said he had helped win recognition for President Karzai's questionable victory."I went through this personally with President Karzai in the last election where there were serious questions about the propriety of the process and we had to sort of strike a compromise about it. I don't think they'll be room for a compromise in the aftermath here. I will certainly make sure that we're riding herd on it very very closely." He added that there cannot be an effective peace without hanging on to the gains which include constitutional government, the rights of women and girls and their role in Afghan society.