Commitment to inclusive Afghan leadership seen

Declaring that his nation "is not Iraq", one of the two contestants in Afghanistan's deadlocked presidential election said on Monday that both he and his rival are committed to lead their war-ravaged nation inclusively in cooperation with international partners.

Former finance minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai credited a US-brokered deal for a comprehensive ballot audit with pulling his country back from the brink, putting the rule of law and government legitimacy back on track.

"What happened in the last days should show you our commitment to inclusiveness," Ahmadzai said of the deal for a national unity government that was reached on Saturday with his opponent, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah.

China welcomes the agreement reached by the two rival candidates on breaking Afghanistan's electoral impasse, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday.

"China appreciates the efforts made by all relevant parties on the breakthrough," said Hong Lei at a regular news conference, adding that China hopes to see an Afghanistan of unity, stability, development and amiability, and supports the country during its political transition.

Ahmadzai said there can be no comparison to Iraq, where politicians from the two main Muslim sects and ethnic Kurds have failed to reach a political accord to either keep or replace Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. In the meantime, Sunni militants have routed the Iraqi army and seized control of much of the country, even threatening to attack the capital, just 30 months after US forces pulled out.

"I am not Maliki, and Afghanistan is not Iraq," Ahmadzai added sharply.

Ballot audit

It was the only time in the interview that he obliquely suggested that he would emerge after the ballot audit as president, instead referring respectfully to Abdullah and the need to let the process take its course.

Ahmadzai said that he and Abdullah would meet face to face at Ahmadzai's home on Tuesday to begin fleshing out the framework for a government, with participation from both camps and all communities in Afghanistan. He said he expects to be hosted later by Abdullah.

He said his fears of a return to Afghanistan's darkest days helped motivate the two politicians' agreement. The negotiations, mediated by US Secretary of State John Kerry, were tense, he said, but not dramatic - for him at least.

"It is the calmest I have been in my life," Ahmadzai recounted. "I have a characteristic that might be good or bad - that when there are large stakes, I am like cold ice. There is no emotion."

Saturday's election deal has been hailed by Afghans of all stripes. Before Kerry stepped in, some feared a failure to agree on the election result would have splintered power and left the Western-backed government even more vulnerable to a Taliban insurgency.

Unofficial and disputed results have shown Ahmadzai well in the lead, but supporters of Abdullah charge that's only because of widespread vote fraud. Since fraud was alleged on both sides, the deal provides that every one of the eight million ballots will be audited under national and international supervision over the next three or four weeks.

(China Daily 07/16/2014 page11)