Afghan rivals sign power-sharing deal

Afghanistan’s rival presidential candidates signed a deal today to share power after months of turmoil over a disputed election that destabilised the nation at a crucial time as most foreign troops prepare to leave.

Ashraf Ghani, a former finance minister who will be named president, embraced rival Abdullah Abdullah after they signed the power-sharing agreement at a ceremony watched by outgoing president Hamid Karzai, and broadcast live from the presidential palace.

The new administration faces huge challenges in fighting an emboldened Taliban-led insurgency and paying its bills amid plummeting tax revenue.

It will also face significant difficulty in improving the lives of ordinary Afghans who face hard times as aid flows fall and as contracts with the Nato-led coalition dry up as most foreign troops leave by the end of the year.

The accord was swiftly welcomed by Washington. US Secretary of State John Kerry had helped broker negotiations between both sides over the past two months.

“This agreement marks an important opportunity for unity and increased stability in Afghanistan,” said a statement issued by the office of the White House press secretary.

“We continue to call on all Afghans - including political, religious, and civil society leaders - to support this agreement and to come together in calling for cooperation and calm.”

One of Mr Ghani’s first acts would be to sign a long-delayed bilateral security agreement with the United States to allow a small force of foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan after 2014, according to Mr Karzai’s spokesman Aimal Faizi.

There is a risk that any instability could be exploited by neighbours, like Pakistan, whose past meddling in Afghan affairs have played a part in the conflicts that have dogged Afghanistan for decades.

Mr Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun, and Mr Abdullah, whose main support comes from the country’s second largest ethnic group, the Tajiks, face as difficult task forging unity in a country riven by ethnic and tribal rivalries.

Mr Abdullah’s accusations that the run-off election was rigged in Mr Ghani’s favour had raised fears of ethnic violence, which could have ignited a broader conflict.

“A spark could have dealt a strong blow to the political process, if today’s deal had not happened,” commented Waliullah Rahmani, director of the Kabul Center for Strategic Studies. “But, we have crossed that moment.”

The final touches of the power-sharing deal were thrashed out late on Saturday night, as the Independent Election Commission prepared to release results of a UN-monitored audit of all 8 million ballots cast in the June run-off.

The commission planned on releasing the final results of the recount later today, but it was unclear whether the size of Mr Ghani’s winning margin would be given as Mr Abdullah’s team has argued that the audit failed to properly adjudicate on fraud.

The disputed preliminary count had shown Ghani won with 56 percent of the vote.

Mr Ghani is expected to be sworn in as president within a week, according to Karzai’s spokesman Aimal Faizi.

Under the terms of the accord, Mr Abdullah, a former foreign minister, would be allowed to nominate a chief executive with newly expanded powers.

The settlement will also come as a relief for Afghans, who have watched the tortuous process play out since they first voted in April.

Mr Karzai has ruled since soon after the Taliban government was ousted by US-backed Afghan forces in late 2001, and the drawn-out election was meant to mark the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan’s troubled history.

“Afghanistan will now be able to move forward for the next five years, even though it is not an ideal government,” Mr Rahmani said.

Reuters