Kerry arrives in Kabul to try to mediate the Afghan election dispute

U.S. Secretary of State, John Kerry, has come to Kabul in order to try to mediate the latest political crisis that threatens Afghanistan: The Battle for the results of the presidential election in June in which the two candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, have declared victory and whom the chief diplomat of the United States plans to meet.

Kerry “discussed the ongoing political transition, emphasizing the message of President (Barack Obama) about which we expect a thorough review of all reasonable allegations of fraud and we will not accept any unconstitutional measure,” said a State Department spokesman, Jeff Rathke, confirming the Afghan scale.

Abdullah has rejected the victory of his opponent Ghani in the election on June 14 declared by the Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) on Monday and announced its intention to form a “legitimate government” after accusing Karzai of massive fraud in the election.

The arrival of Kerry to Kabul – rumored but not confirmed until landing his plane from Beijing – early Friday is another example of the concern in Washington about the new crisis that threatens to further complicate the transition process in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of NATO troops by year’s end.

Obama himself has talked this week with the two presidential candidates, who called for “calm” and “political dialogue”. In addition, they made it clear that “the U.S. expects a thorough review” of the allegations of fraud to ensure a “credible” electoral process and asked them to work together to achieve a solution “represents the will of the Afghans and allow the creation of a government that can unite Afghanistan,” the White House said.

The president even threatened to cut off U.S. aid to Afghanistan if any candidate resorts to “violent or unconstitutional” measures.

Kerry now move this message in person to both candidates and Karzai, whom Washington has had a tense relationship lately for its refusal to sign the bilateral security pact that would govern the U.S. military presence after the withdrawal of the international troops, later this year.

His spokesman said that the U.S. “does not support any candidate”, but its objective is a “credible, transparent and inclusive” process that allows the assumption of a president who governs “efficiently”.

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Posted by Jamshed Sindhu on Jul 12 2014. Filed under South Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.