In Afghanistan, impasse over vote audit raises global concerns

UN official urges resolution as Abdullah remains unwilling to accept ‘bogus’ votes.


Tahir Khan September 12, 2014

ISLAMABAD:


The political stalemate in Afghanistan has further delayed the transfer of power as both presidential candidates–Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani–have failed to sort out their differences over the audit of votes.


Millions of Afghans, who braved the Taliban threats to line up and cast their ballots, will have to wait longer for President Hamid Karzai’s replacement. The audit of nearly eight million votes has been completed, but the official results are yet to be announced.

The Abdullah team insists the audit process, which was supervised by the UN and other foreign observers, was not enough to remove its doubts over the “extra one million votes” cast in the June 14 run-off of the presidential elections.

“The problem is the Ashraf Ghani team is trying to impose bogus votes on us. We will not accept them; only clean votes,” Abdullah’s spokesperson, Fazlur Rehman Orya, told The Express Tribune via telephone from Kabul on Friday. Ghani, however, denies any irregularities and says he favoured the audit of all votes, as well as the invalidation of bogus ones.

However, Orya claimed the UN-supervised audit process failed to separate a “large number of bogus votes”. He added, “We boycotted the audit and recounting process.”

Despite the boycott, Ghani insists he will continue political negotiations with rival Abdullah to reach a consensus for the sake of a national unity government.

“We must come together and continue political talks. Afghanistan is home for all of us; therefore, we need a government of national unity,” Tolo TV quoted Ghani as saying at a news conference. He also asserted his patience “should not be misunderstood as weakness”.

Differences over the audit led to the cancellation of talks over the formation of a national unity government.

Political commentators say pressure from the United States will force Abdullah to accept the results as refusal could lose him foreign support.

“Abdullah understands if he creates problems and prolongs his protest, the US, UN and the global community could withdraw support,” said Afghan analyst Nazar Mutmaeen via Skype from Kabul.

Mutmaeen is of the view that the mistrust between Ghani and Abdullah will continue even if they share power as the two have completely different ideologies.

“I would point out one major difference; Ghani favours peace talks with the Taliban and Abdullah does not support any such move,” he said. Mutmaeen also claimed Abdullah wants almost 50% share in the new government, besides the office of the chief executive, and five important ministries for his close aides.

As political tension grip Afghanistan at a critical time, global concerns are also growing. A senior UN official arrived in Kabul on Thursday to “underscore the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for a successful conclusion to Afghanistan’s presidential election process”, said the UN office in Kabul.

“I was here to reiterate the message to the two candidates, on behalf of the secretary-general, to move forward,” a statement posted online quoted Under Secretary General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman as saying.

He said it is important from the UN perspective that the two candidates reach an agreement as it is “the best way to move forward”. Feltman added the two candidates should fulfil their commitment to the public and accept the results, which are expected to be announced in the next few days.

Sticking to the schedule

Ahmad Yousaf Nuristani, the head of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), said election officials are committed to announcing the final results of the runoff election next week.

Nuristani told Tolo TV in an interview that there would be no further changes to the announcement schedule. This is welcome news after five months of the protracted process.

“We have decided to announce the final results of the election next week,” he said on Thursday. “Our work is complete and there is no reason for a delay. The decision is confirmed.”

The United States, which anxiously awaits signatures on a controversial pact to keep some troops beyond this year, is also concerned over the political stalemate as two deals brokered by Secretary of State John Kerry have not yet worked. President Barack Obama has also called both candidates, however, nothing has convinced Abdullah so far.

The US Ambassador to Kabul, James B. Cunningham, used his speech on Wednesday to mark the anniversary of the 9/11 attacks to urge the rival candidates to resolve their differences.

“I sincerely hope that Afghanistan’s political leaders will keep the faith of millions of Afghans who defied the Taliban and put their trust in the democratic process by casting millions of votes,” the envoy had said.

It was the duty of the leaders to honour the wishes of their people and the memory of the many who rendered the ultimate sacrifice, added the ambassador.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 13th, 2014.

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