KABUL, June 16 (Xinhua) -- As election campaign formally began in the post-Taliban Afghanistan on Tuesday, an arch rival to President Hamid Karzai's administration Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai called on Afghans to bring change through voting.

    "My prime objective is to oust this corrupt administration through voting and provide shelter and job opportunities for 1 million people if people mandate me," Ahmadzai told a public meeting attended by some 1,000 of his supporters here in the Afghan capital.

    Election campaign formally began on June 16 and would be closed down on August 17 just 48 hours before beginning of voting.

    Ahmadzai, who served as finance minister in President Hamid Karzai's administration years ago, described the present administration as a corrupt one, calling on Afghans to utterly reject Karzai during election set for August 20.

    The sitting president Hamid Karzai is among 41 candidates on the run for the presidential poll held on August 20 amid tight security.