Ghani, Abdullah join race for Afghan prez
KABUL : Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah registered to run for president in elections to be held this year.
Abdullah registered his ticket, which includes two vice presidents and a chief executive, followed by Ghani at the Independent Election Commission in Kabul on Sunday. The vote is now expected in July as concerns mount that it will be marred by Taliban violence.
Afghan elections have been tainted by violence, ballot-stuffing and delays since the Taliban were ousted by the US invasion in 2001. Abdullah, 58 and an ethnic Tajik, ran for president in 2009 and 2014 but failed to win either.
He had declared himself win- ner in 2014 after accusing Ghani of fraud, and was appointed chief executive in a Us-brokered deal that stopped a potential civil war.
“We want a peace which is compatible with the realities of our society and a cure to the wounds of our people.” Abdullah told supporters and reporters on Sunday. “We will fight to root out poverty, inequality, instability and monopoly.”
He is seen by analysts as a strong contender against Ghani, who’s also seeking re-election.
Other potential candidates are former national security adviser Mohammadhanifatmar,former warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and former head of Afghanistan’s intelligence agency, Rahmatullah Nabil.