Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates have ended six months of political deadlock by signing a power-sharing agreement that paves the way for the installation of a new president.
In a televised ceremony at the presidential palace on Sunday, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani signed the deal to create a national unity government. The short ceremony was hosted by the outgoing president, Hamid Karzai, and attended by cabinet members, and other high-level government officials.
The details of the deal, though leaked to the press, has not yet officially been made public. Conspicuously absent from the signing were the US ambassador, James Cunningham, and head of the UN in Afghanistan, Jan Kubis; both had significant mediating roles during the long negotiations.
According to the four-page deal, the winner of the election, Ghani, will be president. The runner-up, Abdullah – or someone he appoints – will become prime minister, or the chief executive officer. The president will run the cabinet and be in charge of strategic functions, while the chief executive will be in charge of daily duties. He will also chair the new council of ministers.
Neither candidate appeared elated or particularly content as Karzai gave a short speech in which he congratulated the two candidates and expressed his readiness to help in "finishing the work that the current administration had started".
Sunday's ceremony came after months of wrangling between the two parties and their supporters. The latest obstacle came last week when Abdullah asked that the results of the UN-run audit not be made public, a process he deems too mired in fraud. Abdullah had previously boycotted the process, citing "industrial-scale fraud". The claim was not proven during the extensive two-month-long audit. His supporters, who do not consider the audit a fair process, have threatened violence.
The results of the audit are due out on Sunday, a move Abdullah supporters have previously tried to block. It remains unclear whether they have been successful to this end; sources say there may be a compromise wherein the percentage of voters is announced without casting them in the light of winners or losers. Preliminary results announced last month have put Ghani in the lead.
Despite Sunday's ceremony, the two campaigns still disagree on so much, and some fear they will not be able to maintain the precarious union for long. The work that awaits the new administration is immense and will require coordination. Nearly all aspects of life in Afghanistan have come to a halt in the past few months. Among the most urgent is the signing of the bilateral security agreement that will allow foreign troops to remain in Afghanistan beyond this year.
During the brief signing ceremony, Ghani and Abdullah remained silent. Anand Gopal, author of No Good Men Among the Living: America, the Taliban and the War Through Afghan Eyes, referred to their morose disposition on Twitter. He quoted the Israeli writer Amos Oz, likening the deal as "a fitting Chekhovian end".
"In the conclusion of the tragedy by Chekohov, everyone is disappointed, disillusioned, embittered, heartbroken, but alive."
