Massoud: We Must Avoid Crisis

Fuente: 
Tolo News
Fecha de publicación: 
18 Jun 2014

Ahmad Zia Massoud, brother of Ahmad Shah Massoud and a member of Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai's campaign team, came out on Wednesday and urged for restraint in the election process moving forward

Massoud's comments came in response to presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah's press conference Wednesday morning in which he announced his decision to severe ties with the election commissions and withdraw his observers from the process. Abdullah accused the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and President Hamid Karzai of colluding to defraud the election and put Ghani in power. He called for the vote counting process to be stopped.

Massoud, speaking to former Jihadi commanders from Panjshir, Kapisa and Parwan provinces, offered a temperate attitude to the increasingly tense climate surrounding the election process.He emphasized that all elections have winners and losers and that it is a normal part of democracy. He said he feared the country faced a crisis, and asked both candidates to respect the election process. 

“Millions of Afghans participated in the elections, if we don’t respect their votes, go toward violence again and try to get political power through force, we will have betrayed the nation," Massoud said.

Massoud focused on the importance of accepting the results of the election regardless of their implications. “It should not be that if we like something, we accept it, and if didn’t like it or it is against our will, we raise our voice and create problems,” he said.

He further emphasized the importance of Afghan leaders refraining from allowing religious, jihadi or ethnic issues to destabilize the country. 
 
Massoud was the First Vice Presidential candidate of candidate Zalmay Rasoul during the first round of the elections, and announced his endorsement from Dr. Ghani during runoff campaigns.

 

 

Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/massoud-we-must-avoid-crisis