By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
The troubled presidential election in Afghanistan received another blow when candidate Abdullah Abdullah again distanced himself from the vote audit.
As Afghanistan waits to see if the lengthy process of election and a recount of 8 million votes will produce the country’s first democratic transition and avoid the threat of civil war, a member of Abdullah’s staff announced a boycott of the ballot.
Fazal Ahmad Manawi, a former chief election commissioner and a current member of Abdullah’s camp, claimed the process had been “politically hijacked.” According to preliminary results Abdullah is trailing to rival Ashraf Ghani.
“We know no-one listens to our demands,” Manawi said. “Legitimacy of the future government that we wish to be established through credible elections will remain elusive.”
Since the internationally-observed audit began earlier this month, Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission has found only few thousand invalid votes cast for either candidate.
However, Abdullah’s supporters have accused the commission of gross manipulation.
There are fears that a failure to form a unity government in which both candidates would serve, as was previously agreed, could return Afghanistan to the violence of the 1990s. Abdullah is widely supported among Tajiks and other ethnic groups in northern Afghanistan while Ghani enjoys the support of the country’s majority Pashtuns.
Since the final round of voting on June 14, Abdullah’s team has twice boycotted the commission and the election process, creating a deadlock. It was kickstarted by the intervention of United States Secretary of State John Kerry and the United Nations.
The final stage of vote recount resumed on Wednesday evening after a brief halt during the day. The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has urged the candidates to avoid bickering over minor issues in the interests of the country.
The primary source of contention is how power will be shared in the future Kabul government. The two candidates have signed a document pledging to form a national unity government that will accommodate the losing side.
Senior Afghan journalist Dawood Azimi said Abdullah seemed to want more ministerial jobs for the losing side as well as more power for the ‘chief executive,’ a role that will be created for the losing candidate.
Azimi wrote on Twitter that Ghani's camp seemed reluctant to dilute the president's powers and give too much away.
The wrangling at the top has hit the economy and is being exploited by the Taliban, who have staged some of their biggest attacks since being ousted in 2001.
According to Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the country has lost around $6 billion in economic activity over the last ten months, mainly due to the political impasse and the worsening security situation.
www.aa.com.tr/en
