Transition woes: John Kerry mends Afghanistan’s vote rift

Rival candidates ready for wide audit of votes.

ISLAMABAD:

Afghanistan’s feuding presidential rivals agreed on Saturday to a full audit of every vote cast in the disputed runoff election, US Secretary of State John Kerry said following two days of frantic negotiations.”Both candidates have committed to participate in and stand by the results of the largest most possible audit. Every single ballot that was cast will be audited, all eight million,” Kerry told reporters.

The deadlock over the June 14 election run-off between the leading contenders, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, has raised concerns in Washington about a smooth transition of power in Afghanistan just as US troops drawdown looms. Kerry and his aides met throughout the night, following talks on Friday with both Abdullah and Ghani, as well as with Karzai and UN special envoy Jan Kubis.

Hours after he arrived in Kabul on Friday, he remarked, “Obviously, we are at a very, very critical moment for Afghanistan. The election legitimacy hangs in the balance. The future potential of a transition hangs in the balance, so we have a lot of work to do.”

Kabul had been in the grip of speculations that President Karzai could install an interim government if both candidates failed to remove their differences. Karzai’s palace said the president informed Kerry during their meeting that he will transfer power to the new leader as per schedule.

Dr Abdullah did not talk much about the vote fraud when he spoke to Kerry, however, Dr Ghani remarked, “Our commitment is to ensure that the election process enjoys the integrity and the legitimacy that the people of Afghanistan and the world will believe.”

There are strong rumours that the two rivals could agree on a coalition government as a  result of Kerry’s initiative. The idea of a coalition government had previously been ruled out by both leading candidates.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2014.