President Ashraf Ghani has been declared the winner of Afghanistanâs presidential election after months of delay and accusations of fraud by opposition leaders.
The results of the September election were announced by the Independent Election Commission on Tuesday, which granted incumbent Ghani, 70, another five-year term by a razor-thin margin. According to the commission, Ghani received 50.64% of the vote to beat runner-up and opposition candidate Abdullah Abdullah, 59, who took in 39.5% of the tally.
Abdul Rashid Dostum, the vice president under Ghani and an Abdullah supporter, said he would not accept results that are plagued by fraud.
âEven if they put a knife on my throat, even if they hang me, I will not accept an announcement based on fraud,â Dostum said last week. âIf they announce a government based on fraud, we will announce a parallel government.â
The results are sure to stoke controversy as Abdullah and his supporters have said the election was marred by voter fraud and have disputed 300,000 votes. There have also been threats by Abdullahâs supporters of forming a parallel government over the results, which could have a substantial impact at a critical time during negotiations between the United States and the Taliban.
The U.S. and the Taliban recently agreed to a seven-day âreduction in violence,â a short-term measure intended as a step toward more substantive negotiations with the Taliban, who are pushing for U.S. troops to withdraw from the war-weary country.
âWeâve said all along that the best, if not only, solution in Afghanistan is a political agreement. Progress has been made on this front, and we will have more to report on that soon, I hope,â Secretary of Defense Mark Esper said last week.
