Kabul: President Ashraf Ghani was declared the winner of Afghanistan’s presidential vote after months of delayed results and bitter dispute. Opposition politicians have protested the result, threatening a full-blown political crisis on the cusp of a US peace deal with the Taliban.
Supporters of Ghani’s leading challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, accuse Afghanistan’s election commission of favoring Ghani and have threatened to form a parallel government if the commission announced results that did not satisfy their grievances.
The vote, held in September amid a record number of Taliban attacks intended to destabilize the election, had itself been repeatedly delayed and marred by uncertainty as a peace deal between the US and the Taliban over the future of Afghanistan was nearing finalization. But President Donald Trump snubbed the talks just weeks before the election was expected, opening the way for the vote to proceed. Now, with the announcement of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taliban, the fresh political crisis risks derailing that fragile peace and the country's political future.
“Even if they put a knife on my throat, even if they hang me, I will not accept an announcement based on fraud,” Abdul Rashid Dostum, one of Abdullah’s main supporters and a powerful strongman who was previously Ghani’s vice president, said at a gathering. “If they announce a government based on fraud, we will announce a parallel government.” The win gives Ashraf Ghani another five-year term as president.
