Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai is slated to make an announcement on Friday on a possible snap presidential election for as early as seven weeks from now. His own term in office officially ends in May although the country’s election committee had said it was prepared to delay a vote till August. While Karzai has not declared whether he will seek reelection, calling an early poll will wrong foot his political opponents, according to local analysts. With the increased strength of the Taliban and tribal forces in recent months, the president’s strength has waned, with his only real power base in the capital, Kabul.