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There are more than three dozen other candidates vying for the office Karzai has held since the Taliban were ousted in 2001.

Campaigning for the elections formally began Tuesday on a subdued note amid security concerns, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, a former finance minister in the Karzai government and one of the two main challengers, told a gathering in Kabul the country needs a change as the current regime is corrupt, China's Xinhua news agency reported. He also promised to create 1 million jobs if elected.

The other main challenger of Karzai is Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister.

"Karzai has failed to manage the country -- it needs to be dragged out of crisis", the Times reported Abdullah's campaign manager, Abdul Satar Mured, as saying.

The elections also will decide lawmakers for the national as well as provincial assemblies in the mountainous country where the resurgent Taliban are seeking to reassert themselves, engaging U.S. and NATO forces in much of the country,

The Times reported many candidates for assembly seats stayed home on the first day of campaigning, fearing Taliban violence.

Many candidates, according to the election commission, don't meet even the minimum requirements to hold office and some are even illiterate, the newspaper reported.

Karzai remains the front-runner but the Times said his popularity has fallen sharply in recent months and he may have difficulty securing 50 percent of the votes. That would throw the elections into a runoff in the fall.

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