Former World Bank official Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is the favourite to win Afghanistan's presidential election next month, according to an opinion poll by a Kabul-based research group, according to dpa. About 27.1 per cent of respondents said they would vote for Ahmadzai, ATR Consulting said on Saturday. Trailing him closely was opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah with 24.6 per cent. Former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul was third with 8 per cent. Two candidates have withdrawn from the race to support him, including Qayum Karzai, the elder brother of incumbent president, Hamid Karzai. Islamist strongman Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf came in fourth with 2.7 per cent, while former Kandahar governor Gul Agha Sherzai was on 2.3 per cent. Some 27.9 per cent of respondents said they were "undecided," while 6.7 per cent said they support none of the candidates. ATR said 3,222 respondents from all 34 Afghan provinces were interviewed for the survey over the phone March 19-26. It added that 2,259 of those surveyed were men, while 953 were women. Among the men, Ahmadzai garnered the most votes, while among the women Abdullah scored 24.7 per cent, compared to Ahmadzai who received only 7.5 per cent. The margin of error was less than 1 per cent, ATR said. Abdullah Abdullah was the lead candidate in three past surveys by ATR.
