KABUL (PAN): With less than three weeks until the presidential elections, several presidential aspirants on Tuesday visited some provinces in a bid to muster public support.
Addressing a huge gathering in southeastern Paktia province, the incumbent President Hamid Karzai said entering dialogue with the insurgents for securing a sustainable peace will be on top of his agenda, if he is re-elected.
In southern Kandahar, a gathering of about 4,000 people, mostly from Noorzai tribe, voiced support to Karzai for his reelection bid.
The speakers in their speeches stressed the need for initiating the peace process and urged the Taliban not to disrupt the elections.
In eastern Nangarhar and Nuristan provinces, separate gatherings were held in support of Merwais Yasini, another aspirant among the 38 candidates in the presidential elections.
Yasini's campaign manager in the eastern zone, Ghafar Pacha told Pajhwok Afghan News the gatherings were held in Goshta and Surkh Rod district of Nangarhar and another of 1,000 people in Nuristan.
Meanwhile, Afghan Millat political party voiced support to Yasini at a meeting held on Tuesday. Over 300 people participated in the meeting.
In central Bamyan province, about 3,000 people, including women, voiced their support to Hamid Karzai, calling a right man for the key slot.
An MP and leader of Hizb-I-Wahdat Afghanistan, Haji Mohammad Mohaqqiq in his address to the gathering said that President Hamid Karzai during his rule had removed the hatred among different ethenic groups who in the past were fighting against each others.
Another gathering of hundreds of people, mostly leaders of Baloch and Barahawi tribes in Char Borjak district of southwestern Nimroz also supported Karzai for the presidency. They praised Karzai for doing a lot in the area of reconstruction.
Meanwhile, in the same province, a gathering supported Dr Abdullah Abdullah, another aspirant.
The participants termed Dr Abdullah Abdullah as an icon of change in the country.
Around 300 people in northern Kunduz and 500 in western Herat also held rallies in support of Karzai.
Elsewhere, in northern Balkh province, tribal elders and youth of Dehdadi district supported another candidate Dr Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai while Balkh university students also voiced their support to him on Tuesday.
A student, Farhanaz, said that Dr Ahmadzai has the potential to steer the country out of the persisting problems.