[3] Further evidence that Karzai views himself fulfilling a Durrani monarch's role arise from statements furnished by close allies within his government.

[4] Karzai tried to make peace and rebuild trust between communities in Afghanistan after years of war, by representing everyone in a big tent government, including Islamists (many of which were former rivals), former Communists, royalists from the monarchy-era, and ethnic minorities.

After winning a democratic mandate in the 2004 election and removing many of the former Northern Alliance warlords from his cabinet, it was thought that Karzai would pursue a more aggressively reformist path in 2005.

He has repeatedly demanded that NATO and U.S.-led coalition forces take more care when conducting military operations in residential areas to avoid civilian casualties which undermine his government's already weak standing in parts of the country.

In May 2006, riots broke out in Kabul, when after a fatal traffic accident in the town involving a US military convoy security forces opened fire on protesters.

A few dozen people forced their way past a police cordon guarding the road to the US embassy and threw stones at vehicles carrying foreigners into the compound, prompting the occupants to fire into the air before turning back.

[10] In a video broadcast on 24 September 2006, Karzai stated that if the money wasted on the Iraq War was actually spent on rebuilding Afghanistan, his country would "be in heaven in less than one year".

[11] 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 the US and NATO operations.

In December 2007, Karzai and his delegates travelled to Islamabad, Pakistan, for a usual meeting with Pervez Musharraf on trade ties and intelligence sharing between the two Islamic states.

[21] Karzai also met and had a 45-minute talk with Benazir Bhutto on the morning of 27 December, hours before her trip to Liaquat National Bagh, where she was assassinated after her speech.

[28] – General David Petraeus, Commander of US-NATO forces in Afghanistan, 16 March 2011In 2007, Karzai said that Iran, so far, has been a helper in the reconstruction process.

"[30] 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 the election was characterized by lack of security, low voter turnout and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud.

[46] During his inauguration speech, he pledged to "end the culture of impunity and violation of law and bring to justice those involved in spreading corruption and abuse" and make it "obligatory for senior government officials to identify the sources of their assets and to declare their properties in a transparent manner".

Western officials publicly said his lineup of minister candidates would be a first vital test to show whether he was serious about combating corruption, which undermined his government's credibility and fed the Taliban insurgency.

[47] The Obama administration urged Karzai to exclude ineffective or corrupt officials, while powerful Afghans who helped deliver his re-election were demanding positions, including the Uzbek warlord, Abdul Rashid Dostum.

The new names on the cabinet list included several relatively unknown figures in less influential jobs, and one parliament member said some were associates of some of the power brokers who supported Karzai's re-election.

[50][51][52][53][54][55] Shortly before Karzai presented his list with nominees, the Wolesi Jirga, the lower house of the Afghan parliament, after three days of debating, decided against giving trust vote to ministers with dual citizenship.

In August 2009 Karzai replaced Muhammad Ibrahim Adel, the minister of mines, who was being investigated for allegedly taking more than $20 million in bribes to help a Chinese firm win a lucrative contract.

[58] Karzai also replaced Sadiq Chakari, the religious affairs minister who was accused in taking part in a kickback scam involving Afghan pilgrims to Mecca.

At a news conference with the Belgian prime minister Leterme he also announced that he planned to create a ministry to fight illiteracy, and that he intended to nominate a woman to head it.

[70][71][72] The parliament decided to take a short break of three days and demanded Karzai to come up with a list of names, including a candidate for the post of Foreign Affairs.

[82][83][84] According to analysts the new nominees represented a cross-section of Afghanistan's ethnic mix of Pashtun, Uzbek, Tajik and Hazara, but the common thread would be their inexperience.

[87][88][89][90] On 17 January, the Afghan parliament prolonged uncertainty by shutting for its winter recess until 20 February, without waiting for President Karzai to fill the rest of his cabinet.

[91][92] On 26 January 2010, on the eve of the International Afghanistan Conference in London Karzai set the framework for dialogue with Taliban leaders when he called on the group's leadership to take part in a "Loya Jirga" – or large assembly of elders—to initiate peace talks.

[94][95] On 15 February 2010, the American newspaper Washington Post published an obtained draft of changes to the Afghan election law that was presented at a cabinet meeting earlier that month.

In the presidential elections of 2009, the five-member ECC—including three international members appointed by the U.N. envoy to Afghanistan – calculated that Karzai lost his first-round majority by the amount of vote-rigging and would need to face a run-off.

Further the proposal intended to establish restrictive qualifications for presidential candidates: they should have a bachelor's degree and a "good reputation" and be a "wise and brave person" and not been "affected by psychic diseases."

[96] In March 2010 the president's office admitted that it had entered into force without Karzai's signature the National Reconciliation Charter that the Afghan parliament passed in 2007, granting immunity from prosecution to combatants in past conflicts since the Soviet's invasion in 1979[97][98][99][100][101] ([in 2005, Human Rights Watch documented one particularly grisly period in 1992–93 in its report "Blood Stained Hands: Past Atrocities in Kabul and Afghanistan's Legacy of Impunity"[102]).

[103] The resolution which was passed earlier by the lower house of Parliament, Wolesi Jirga, on 31 January 2007 provided impunity to the war criminals including Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar.