The US ambassador to Kabul warned on Tuesday of tension between Afghan President Hamid Karzai and ethnic minority factions in his government who say they will challenge the frontrunner in October elections. He referred to "hurt feelings", "injured pride" and a "decrease in trust" among members of the Northern Alliance movement, possibly caused by Karzai's decision to exclude key alliance figures from his list of running mates.
Any tensions would underline the on-again off-again rivalry between Karzai, his US backers and reformers from his largest Pashtun ethnic group on the one hand and minority Tajik, Uzbek and Hazara leaders who oppose many of his policies on the other.
By upsetting his rivals, Karzai may end up helping a traditionally fractious alliance movement to unite behind a single candidate and pose the election favourite more problems than he bargained for.
"I do understand that there are some hurt feelings, but the interests of the nation must be put above personal feelings," Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told a news briefing.
Two key players in the October 9 presidential poll could be outgoing education minister Yunus Qanuni, who announced his candidacy on Monday, and Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim, originally tipped to be Karzai's main running mate.
23 CANDIDATES TO CONTEST: Afghanistan's election commission Tuesday unveiled a preliminary list of 23 candidates including President Hamid Karzai who will contest October elections.
The Joint Electoral Management Body would hear objections from the public and confirm a final list of candidates on August 10.
"The JEMB will study the contents of citizen's objections with great attention and consult relevant authorities to verify candidates' eligibility before reaching any decision on candidacies," the electoral commission said in a statement.
Comments
Comments are closed.