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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan political crisis deepens as Abdullah claims victory ahead of vote audit results |
| 2014-09-12 |
| [Pak Daily Times] The ongoing Afghan election crisis could further deepen as presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... on Monday claimed victory in the prolonged election process even before the independent election commission has announced the official result of the vote audit. Abdullah also suspended talks on formation of national unity government which he and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, his main contender in the electoral review process, have earlier agreed. "The fraud committed in the election process has caused a deadlock. I would continue to defend the right of the people and the votes that they cast and would never accept the fraud-marred election results," Abdullah said in a public meeting attended by hundreds of his supporters here. Analysts here said that Abdullah's announcement could trigger another round of political instability in the strife-torn country. "Of course, rejecting the election results by any candidate would add to the election crisis," a political analyst and journalist Khan Mohammad Daneshjo told Xinhua. The auditing and recounting process of the votes have been monitored by national and international observers, including those from the United Nations ...boodling on the grand scale... and European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , the analyst said, adding there is no reason for the candidates to dispute the election results. Afghanistan presidential election was held on April 5 and since none of the eight contenders succeeded to secure more than 50 percent of the votes, two frontrunners Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai went for runoff on June 14. Abdullah, who bagged majority of the votes in the first round of the elections and stood second in the runoff, had accused the election commission of committing fraud in favor of Ghani Ahmadzai and demanded a vote audit. The recounting and auditing of votes were completed on Thursday and chairman election commission Ahmad Yusuf Nuristani said Monday that the election results would be announced soon irrespective of whether there is an agreement or not between the two candidates on a national unity government. To solve the election deadlock, U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you knowKerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat,conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... has visited Kabul twice since July and held meetings with the two presidential hopefuls. |
| Posted by:Fred |