KABUL (Pajhwok): US Secretary of State John Kerry, President Barrack Obama's pointman on Afghanistan, arrived in Kabul on Thursday evening to help resolve issues related to the presidential election, a well-placed source said.
An official, familiar with Kerry’s itinerary, confided to Pajhwok Afghan News the secretary would push the feuding presidential runners -- Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai Dr. Abdullah to implement the deal they reached last month.
He would also confer with President Hamid Karzai and other officials on the ongoing vote audit, which has seen a number of stops and starts due to differences between the candidates’ representatives.
In Washington, the State Department spokeswoman told reporters the secretary would meet election contenders to clear the logjam over the counting of votes, as differences between the two continued to emerge.
“The secretary will follow-up on his July visit to Kabul and his subsequent phone calls to the candidates, encouraging both to help accelerate the audit process which they are both participating in, and make progress on the details of the political framework that they have agreed to,” Jen Psaki said.
He would encourage both candidates to work together in the spirit of collegiality and statesmanship to ensure national unity and the means to build on the progress the Afghan people had achieved, she added.
All ballot boxes have reached the audit centre from provinces. The audit is underway under the watchful eyes of national and international observers, as well as representatives of both contenders.
On July 12, Abdullah and Ahmadzai reached an agreement on ending the electoral impasse and forming a government of national unity -- thanks to hectic diplomatic efforts by the United States and the United Nations.
The deadlock was triggered by Abdullah’s boycott of the electoral institutions over what he called industrial-scale fraud in the runoff election.
Separately, President Hamid Karzai said presidential election results must be announced within the agreed timeline. Karzai issued the call during a meeting with UNAMA head Ján Kubiš early noon.
Millions of Afghans, who exercised their voting right, had been waiting for months for the results and wanted to see a new president sworn in and a new government installed, Karzai said.
He noted the current situation had negatively affected the country’s security, stability and economy. The election result, therefore, must be announced before the end of August so that a new president could take office, he added.
Swearing-in of the new president was scheduled to be held on the fifth day of Eidul Fitr, but widespread fraud allegations delayed the final results.
Also on Thursday, the election commission said the vote audit would continue in line with the checklist designed by the UN with the consent of the presidential hopefuls.
Noor Mohammad Noor, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman, told reporters in Kabul the audit was going on smoothly in compliance with the 16-article checklist.
mud
