Ashraf Ghani named president of Afghanistan
Ghani's camp disappointed over electoral commission's avoidance of sharing detailed results
KABUL, Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission declared Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the future Afghan President and his rival Abdullah Abdullah as the Chief Executive on Sunday.
Ahmad Yousaf Nooristan, chief of the election commission, told a hurriedly organized and brief press conference that Ashraf Ghani had won the election.
He avoided going into the details about the vote tally and emphasized upon praising Afghan voters for coming out and voting under challenging circumstances.
Ghani’s electoral camp has expressed disappointment at the commission's avoidance of sharing the detailed results, calling it a “betrayal” towards the Afghan people.
Abdullah’s team has long been demanding the final results to be based on the political agreement between the two candidates, not the electoral process.
Sources in the election commission told the Anadolu Agency that Ghani has won 55.27 percent of the vote, while his opponent Abdullah Abdullah had won 44.73 percent.
Haleem Fidayee, a member of Ghani led Change and Continuity team told the Anadolu Agency that the election commission had been pressured by the UN not to announce the detailed result.
Afghans have stormed the social media websites, expressing anger over the mockery of democracy in this war-torn country.
Earlier on Sunday, the two presidential candidates signed a power-sharing agreement after months of political deadlock from April's presidential election.
In a brief ceremony hosted by outgoing President Hamid Karzai, Abdullah and Ghani signed a national unity government deal, under which Ghani becomes the president while Abdullah gets the newly created post of Chief Executive.
Meanwhile, NATO, the European Union and the U.S. welcomed the signing of the national unity government deal between the Abdullah and Ghani.
"I look forward to the resolution of the electoral process with the announcement of the election outcome, the inauguration of a new President and appointment of a Chief Executive, and the conclusion of the necessary security agreements with the United States and NATO as soon as possible," NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry also heralded the agreement as a “moment of extraordinary statesmanship.” He said: “These two men have put the people of Afghanistan first, and they've ensured that the first peaceful democratic transition in the history of their country begins with national unity.”
