KABUL (Pajhwok): President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday urged both the presidential candidates to end their dispute over election results and save the country from further violence and economic decline.
Addressing a gathering marking the Independence Day, Karzai said he hoped the Afghans stay united so that the country was led toward peace and stability.
Stressing early results from the June presidential runoff election, President Karzai said the people were waiting impatiently for the result. He hoped the two candidates would reach an agreement on an inclusive government in which no body was left out.
The appeal from Karzai comes as a powerful figure in the north, Atta Mohammad Noor, the governor of Balkh province and a close aide to Abdullah, asked his supporters to get ready for protests against the final results.
Noor wrote on his Facebook wall that the elections had lost their legitimacy and that the election commission and the UN were not responding to complaints from the Abdullah camp.
The Abdullah camp a day earlier warned to withdraw from the political process if its demands were not met by Tuesday.
The Ghani camp on Tuesday said Abdullah’s decision to boycott the electoral process was emotional and the rival camp should review its decision.
The prolonged electoral process has paralysed the country since the second round of the presidential election was held on June 14.
The United States brokered an emergency deal designed to end the impasse between Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, but none appears willing to back down.
Meanwhile, Abdullah told the BBC on Tuesday that the Taliban believed they could bring the state down and replace it with their emirate. “That belief has made them keep fighting rather than seeking peace.”
ma
Visits: 0
GET IN TOUCH
NEWSLETTER
SUGGEST A STORY
PAJHWOK MOBILE APP