- Though results are in, the winner is still not clear
Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) has finally declared the result of the country’s presidential election, held on September 28. With its declaration that incumbent President Ashraf Ghani had won 50.64 per cent of the votes cast, he avoided the second round that had to be held in 2014. However, he did so by a narrow margin. With only 12,000 votes being changed, the election would go into a second round, providing runner-up Abdullah Abdullah another chance. Mr Abdullah was also the runner-up in both rounds in 2014, and his claims that the polls were rigged persuaded the USA enough to broker a deal in which he was appointed Chief Executive. However, it is highly unlikely that his claims of rigging, would get him more than another round of voting, for he was beaten by over 200,000 votes, or just over 11 per cent. This was worse than 2014, when he actually led in the first round. He failed to increase his share of the vote, and Ashraf Ghani attracted all the other candidates’ votes.
Be that as it may, Pakistan has no real interest in who wins, for both candidates have a bent towards India, and a corresponding prejudice against Pakistan. Of course, Pakistan would hope that all sides abide by the result of the election. President Ghani has hinted at the direction he fears trouble may come, by saying that no one should think of acquiring power by military means. If indeed there is a civil war because of the election, the most logical destination for refugees is Pakistan. That is the main reason why Pakistan must hope for a peaceful resolution, and an acceptance of the democratic process.
The relationship with Afghanistan should be made to take a new direction under the second Ghani term (though that is by no means a foregone conclusion, given Mr Abdullah’s swift decision to contest the result, and the IEC’s saying it will take 39 working days to process the complaints), and for that it must be handled by the body with the most expertise in doing so, the Foreign Office. It is time that Pakistan stop looking at Pakistan through the prism of security and defence, and the dominance gained in the Zia years by the Army, and kept ever since, should be changed.
