Amid the growing political turmoil over contested results in Afghan presidential elections, US Secretary of State John Kerry has separately met both presidential candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, and stressed that the next government should unify the Afghan people and seek to lead them into a better future.
“We want to see a unified, stable, democratic Afghanistan. It is important that whoever is president it recognised by the people as having become president through a legitimate process,” the US’ top diplomat said.
The preliminary results of the June 14 run-off elections, released on July 7, declared Ashraf Ghani as leading the polls. His rival, Abdullah Abdullah, has refused to accept the result, citing alleged fraud and called it a “coup against the people.”
Abdullah has been very vocal about the alleged fraud, ballot stuffing and vote rigging in the run-off elections. Recently, he released records of a telephone conversation in which Ziaulhaq Amarkhil, the country’s chief election officer, was heard encouraging election officials to support Ghani. While the authenticity of the recordings has not been verified, the video forced Amarkhil to resign.
Mr. Kerry, however, was quick to reiterate that the election results, showing Ghani in the lead, was merely “preliminary” and could change. “They are neither authoritative nor final, and no-one should be stating victory at this point”, he cautioned.
“We want to see a unified, stable, democratic Afghanistan. It is important that whoever is president it recognised by the people as having become president through a legitimate process,” the US’ top diplomat said.
As NATO combat troops prepare to leave Afghanistan later in 2014, it is imperative that Kabul has a stable government to tackle the challenges posed by insurgency and a fragile, aid-dependent economy.
Author Profile
- India Writes Network (www.indiawrites.org) is an emerging think tank and a media-publishing company focused on international affairs & the India Story. Centre for Global India Insights is the research arm of India Writes Network. To subscribe to India and the World, write to editor@indiawrites.org. A venture of TGII Media Private Limited, a leading media, publishing and consultancy company, IWN has carved a niche for balanced and exhaustive reporting and analysis of international affairs. Eminent personalities, politicians, diplomats, authors, strategy gurus and news-makers have contributed to India Writes Network, as also “India and the World,” a magazine focused on global affairs.
Latest entries
DiplomacyApril 23, 2024Resetting West Asia, re-booting the world, but not fast enough: T.S. Tirumurti- India and the WorldApril 22, 2024India’s G20 Legacy: Mainstreaming Africa, Global South in global agenda
- DiplomacyApril 10, 2024Diplomat-author Lakshmi Puri pitches for women power at LSR
- India and the WorldApril 6, 2024UN envoy pitches to take India’s solutions to the world stage
