Elections and politics
The full audit of Presidential run-off votes continued in August, albeit with numerous delays and disruptions. On the 1st, the UN announced that the audit would resume after 3 weeks of intermittent delays and disputes. But the following day Abdullah’s team refused to attend, claiming the suggested processes agreed were not robust enough to reveal the alleged large-scale fraud. It took a second visit by US Secretary of State John Kerry to resume the process and for both candidates to agree on the development of a unity government.
Daily squabbles between observers of the 2 candidates caused hours of delays and on the 19th, erupted into a knife fight in which 7 people were injured. On the 25th, Abdullah’s team again objected that their criteria demands had been ignored in the votes’ invalidation procedure and withdrew from the process. In solidarity Ashraf Ghani withdrew his team also. No longer focused on the contentious audit, both teams debated the structure and roles of the unity government. However, the month ended with Abdullah once again threatening to withdraw, this time after his demand that the Chief Executive be given chairpersonship of the Cabinet was rejected by Ghani’s team as unconstitutional.
Hence President Karzai’s plans to inaugurate his successor on 2nd September were futile. The UN, overseeing the audit process, suggested a date of 10th September. Karzai decided that the Minister of Defence would represent Afghanistan in the NATO Summit starting on September 4th. Critical discussions are planned regarding long-overdue security agreements.
In non-election related news, Karzai was joined by both candidates to mark the 95th Independence Day. On the 21st Karzai demanded answers from the US after they released 9 more prisoners from Bagram prison to return to Pakistan. In Kunduz officials lamented the release a Taliban militant by the Afghan government, arguing he was likely to join another released prisoner responsible for numerous attacks in the province throughout the month.