No question of coalition govt: Massoud

KABUL (Pajhwok): A supporter of presidential candidate Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai on Friday asked the Reform and Unanimity team, led by Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, to stop insisting on the formation of a coalition government.

Ahmad Zia Massoud, also a former vice-president, told a gathering of women in Kabul that Abdullah’s camp should not rely on foreign support in its efforts to thrust itself on the winner of the presidential election.

He argued only one candidate would be declared the winner of the election, ruling out the establishment of a coalition set-up in the wake of the vote. Instead the Change and Continuity team would go for a national government, he explained.

“We categorically reject a coalition government and foreign pressures for this are an insult to the Afghans’ votes,” the former vice-president remarked.  The proposed dispensation would multiply the country’s problems, he warned.

Massoud added: “Our team is supportive of national unity. Our rivals should also strive for national representation if they truly want Afghanistan’s unity.”

The losing side should neither entice people to a civil war nor try to impose itself upon the winner, he said, asking Abdullah’s camp to let the country enter a phase of peace and prosperity.

In the first six months, the government of the Change and Continuity team would focus on justice sector reforms and boosting highway security, he promised.

He informed participants of the meeting a series of new development projects would be initiated in Kabul in the near future. The Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) Law would be passed and education reform introduced, he concluded.

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