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On Friday, Afghanistan’s dueling Presidential candidates reached an agreement to form an Afghani unity government, kicking off a way forward after a fraud-tainted election that threatened to revive ethnic clashes.
Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani promised to work together regardless of who becomes President after an audit of all 8 million votes will declare the winner of the election.
US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kabul to bring the impasse to an end; he welcomed the deal, calling it a major advance in bringing back Afghanistan from the periphery of political chaos as NATO troops began to withdraw from the nation.
An earlier deal mediated by Kerry last month wore away due to antagonism between the two candidates, as attention will now focus on supporters’ acceptance of the latest agreement. The risk of rising instability has been looming large in Afghanistan ever since Abdullah did not accept the preliminary results in which Ghani was ahead – Abdullah accused Ghani of stealing the election using massive ballot-box stuffing.
“Today (we) have taken another step forward in the interests of strengthening national unity… and also to bring hope for the better future for the people of Afghanistan.We are committed to working together on the basis of our common vision for the future of our country”, Abdullah said, standing next to Ghani and Kerry.
The deal read that Afghanistan was “in one of the most politically sensitive periods of its history” due to disputed nature of the election which should have heralded the nation’s first democratic transfer of power.
“We trust each other.We will work with each other to fulfill this national duty and obligation for every Afghan.We are affirming that we will form a government of national unity… What unites us is far greater than what divided us during the campaign.He and I have reached an agreement and signed a communique for future cooperation”, he said.