Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai on Thursday began his campaign for the runoff round of the presidential election, and received an endorsement from Ahmad Zia Masoud.
Ghani said he does not intend to organize as large of a campaign effort as he did in the first round. “This part of the year is the seaons of work and our security forces are very busy, so we have decided not to conduct big gatherings, we only want one day to come on the ballot boxes,” Ashraf Ghani said on Thursday.
Nevertheless, the first day of the runoff campaign period started off with a bang for Ghani when Masoud, the former running mate of presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul, announced his endorsement. His support departs from that of his former running mate, Rassoul, who last week announced his endorsement of Ghani’s rival, Abdullah Abdullah.
“After consulting with our team members and leadership, we decided to support Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai for the sake of forming a national and modern government, and for the sake of political stability,” Masoud said on Thursday.
Beside Masoud, former president Sibghatollah Mujadidi, former presidential candidate Dawoud Sultanzoi and Abdul Rahim Wardak’s running mate Syed Hussain Anwari have all announced their support for Ghani in the runoff.
As part of their campaign’s start on Thursday, Ghani’s First Vice-President, Abdul Rashid Dostom, pledged to form a separate ministry for Afghan youth if his ticket is elected.
“Last night, I recommended Dr. Ashraf Ghani deliver happy news to the youth, because they deserve it,” Dostom said.
Ghani also called on the international community to help support the independence of the electoral bodies managing this year’s process.
The election commissions have come under fire in recent weeks for their handling of the vote counting and fraud investigation processes. Ashraf Ghani, among others, has been a vocal critic demanding greater transparency and neutrality.
Ghani finished the first round with 31.6 percent of votes, or 2,084,547 ballots. Abdullah led with 45 percent, just five percentage points shy of receiving the majority needed to win the election outright.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/ashraf-ghani-begins-runoff-campaig...
