KABUL - The Presidential Palace announced on Thursday that President Hamid Karzai supports the mediation of any third-party institutions in resolving the current electoral deadlock.

President Karzai's apparent silence regarding the recent tensions has received much criticism. A number of prominent Jihadi figures have asked for Karzai to mediate the tensions between the two campaign teams.

Blaming Karzai's silence, former Senate Chairman, Sebghatullah Mujadadi, told TOLOnews that Karzai cannot remain impartial in resolving the current crisis.

"I blame President Karzai," Mujadadi said. "We talked on the phone today and I blamed him for being silent. He must take an action. He is still the President, but he is saying that he does not want to take a side."

This is while Deputy Head of Mahaz-e-Millie Party, Said Hamed Gillani, has asserted that Karzai can defend the peoples' rights without taking sides.

"As the president, it is his right to not take the side of either candidate, but he must use the resources at his disposal to defend the righteous," Gillani stated. "The nation trusts him and it is his responsibility to end the crisis."

Additionally, a number of electoral analysts have accused Karzai of being part of the crisis, criticizing his negligence of the situation and asking him to take control before the issue becomes more severe.

"Most of the responsibility comes back to the government of Karzai," former IEC Chairman, Fazil Ahmad Manawi said. "Karzai must use his position to prevent the conditions in the country from getting more critical. We hope that he will take care of this important task in his last days in office."

In response to the analysts' allegations, the Presidential Palace announced that President Hamid Karzai has spent most of his time talking with the presidential candidates since the beginning of the electoral tensions. Karzai's Deputy Spokesman, Faiq Wahidi, stated that the president has welcomed and encouraged agreements between the candidates with the mediation of national and international institutions.

"President Karzai has not been careless at all, especially lately, he has been spending most of his time to end the current deadlock," Wahidi said. "The president supports any settlement the candidates reach."

President Hamid Karzai has welcomed U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and the UN's involvement in ending the crisis in Afghanistan. It is yet to be seen whether the U.S. and UN mediation efforts will be successful. (Tolonews)