With final results of the presidential election just days away, and a likely runoff round between the top two candidates on the horizon, the Hezb-e-Islami Shura announced support for Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai on Friday.
Final results of the presidential and provincial council elections are expected on May 14. With none of the candidates getting over 50 percent of the preliminary vote count, a second round election is to take place between the leading candidate, Abdullah Abdullah, and the second place candidate, Ashraf Ghani.
“We decided to go with the people and support Dr. Ashraf Ghani as the candidate of the Afghan people,” Hizb-e-Islami Shura Council head Qazi Mohammad Amin Weqad said on Friday.
He said ethnic inclusion was one of the group’s top priorities, and that Ashraf Ghani and his team are the best in that area.
“We want an administration that is formed on the basis of justice, an administration that reflects every ethnic groups,” Qazi Mohammad said.
Ashraf Ghani has asked Abdullah for cooperation and a coalition between them. However, Abdullah has categorically denied that any talks regarding the formation of a coalition government have occurred.
“We don’t want to represent a particular party, or some ethnic groups, we want to be the servants of all Afghan people,” Ashraf Ghani said. "I ask Abdullah and his team to promise that no discrimination or division can exist among the people of Afghanistan, and any person or spokesman that believes in discrimination should be contested.”
The final results announcement awaits the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC), which must still complete its complaints review and submit findings to the Independent Election Commission (IEC). How much those findings will impact the results of the first round remains to be seen, but most experts believe it will not be enough to avoid a runoff.
The runoff round, if necessary, was originally scheduled for May 28. However, after a delay in the announcement of preliminary results, and a possible delay to the final results, it is likely the second round would be pushed back to early June.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/hizb-e-islami-shura-council-endors...
