US special envoy Zalmay Khalilzad expects President Ashraf Ghani and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah to agree on an inclusive government led by Ghani.
In an interview with Germany’s Spiegel, Khalilzad said that the Independent Election Commission had declared Ghani as winner of the election, but he noted that Abdullah, who rejected the results, had valid concerns.
“It is important that the current political crisis does not devolve into violence,” Khalilzad said. “Potential violence stemming from the political crisis would have a negative impact on the security forces, on the peace process and on Afghanistan as a whole.”
“We are working day and night to encourage all sides to make sure this does not happen.”
Khalilzad hoped that the inclusive government with other political leaders will name a national team for negotiations with the Taliban.
US and the Taliban signed a peace deal in Doha late last month. Khalilzad said that US achieved several objectives in the deal.
Referring to violence, he said that there are currently no attacks against the coalition forces, the level of violence in the cities is relatively low and the major highways are not blocked.
“But still, there is too much violence. We are pushing for further reduction of violence. Everything is a process. We are right in the middle of it, and whether or not this process will ultimately succeed, history will judge,” he said.
Khalilzad emphasized that the deal is conditions based.
“This is a conditions-based agreement. We will not look away if they commit a violation,” Khalilzad said.
Afghanistan held its fourth presidential elections in October last year with the final results out months after the election day. The election commission announced President Ghani as winner of the controversial poll, but his main electoral rival and Chief Executive Officer the National Unity Government Abdullah not only refused to concede, but also declared himself as president and held a parallel swearing-in ceremony.
