Afghan interior minister joins Ghani’s team

KABUL: Afghan Interior Minister Amrullah Saleh stepped down from his post on Saturday in order to run for the vicepresidency alongside President Ashraf Ghani who plans to bid for a second term in July’s election.

The former top security official said that he had resigned and two political sources said he would join Ghani’s team.

“He wants to contest for the post of vice-president,” said a source from the presidential palace in Kabul.

Saleh, who commands strong support among Afghanistan’s minority ethnic Tajiks, had been expected to oppose Ghani in the election, which has been pushed back from April to July. Under Afghanistan’s electoral system, all members of government except the president and vice president must step down in order to run for office. In December, Ghani appointed Saleh, a former security official and an uncompromising opponent of the Taliban, to his government in a bid to secure the support of former opponents for a second term. Meanwhile, Gulbudin Hekmatyar, a former Afghan warlord and leader of the Hezb-e-islami political party, registered with the country’s Election Commission on Saturday to contest the July 20 presidential election. Hekmatyar registered his name with the poll body along with his two deputies—fazal Hadi Wazin and Qazi Hafiz Ur Rehman Naqi—who will run for first and second Vice Presidents in the polls, the Khaama Press reported. Hekmatyar is believed to be responsible for killing of tens of thousands of civilians in Kabul during the 1990s civil war and was nicknamed the “Butcher of Kabul”.

Talking to the media after registering his name, Hekmatyar said that he was an “Independent candidate” and wanted the Election Commission to ensure free and fair elections that could facilitate the voters to choose their franchise in favour of their favourite candidates freely.