At Side-by-Side Ceremonies, Afghans Swear in Two Presidents
2020-03-10
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1Afghanistan's top two presidential candidates were sworn-in as president at competing ceremonies Monday.
2Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah each claim to have won the September 2019 elections.
3Last month, government officials declared Ghani, the incumbent president, the winner.
4But Abdullah, the incumbent Chief Executive, dismissed the results and promised to set up his own government.
5Many foreign diplomats attended Ghani's swearing-in ceremony in central Kabul.
6Among them was the United States envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad.
7Also present was General Scott Miller, the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan.
8A short distance away, however, Abdullah was being inaugurated as president.
9Both inaugurations started late because U.S. officials were trying to settle the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah.
10However, after several hours, the ceremonies began.
11On February 19, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission announced that Ghani had won just over 50 percent of the vote, compared with just around 40 percent for Abdullah.
12But Abdullah claimed that he had won the election.
13He claimed that vote-rigging helped Ghani's vote totals.
14This is the second time the election for president of Afghanistan has resulted in disagreement.
15Both Ghani and Abdullah claimed victory in the 2014 presidential election.
16The United States helped negotiate a power-sharing agreement,
17with Ghani as the president and Abdullah as the chief executive, a newly formed office.
18The latest disagreement has led to a political crisis that may threaten a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban.
19The agreement was signed February 29 in Qatar.
20It requires the Taliban to open talks with an Afghan delegation that includes political forces and civil society.
21The aim of the talks is to negotiate a permanent cease-fire.
22The Taliban planned talks this week with Afghanistan's government.
23Those discussions will probably not take place on time because of the inauguration crisis, political observers said.
24One observer, Atta Noori, told the French news agency AFP that "Unity is the only way [forward] if they want to win on the negotiating table."
25Afghan politicians and the public have taken to social media to express their anger at Ghani and Abdullah.
26"Their actions are an insult to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation," wrote Hekmat Khalil Karzai, a former deputy foreign minister.
27"Afghanistan needs to be shielded from those responsible for this tragic comedy."
28Karzai is now chairman of the Center for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS) in Kabul.
29I'm Jill Robbins.
1Afghanistan's top two presidential candidates were sworn-in as president at competing ceremonies Monday. 2Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah each claim to have won the September 2019 elections. Last month, government officials declared Ghani, the incumbent president, the winner. But Abdullah, the incumbent Chief Executive, dismissed the results and promised to set up his own government. 3Many foreign diplomats attended Ghani's swearing-in ceremony in central Kabul. Among them was the United States envoy to Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad. Also present was General Scott Miller, the commander of the U.S.-led international force in Afghanistan. 4A short distance away, however, Abdullah was being inaugurated as president. 5Both inaugurations started late because U.S. officials were trying to settle the dispute between Ghani and Abdullah. However, after several hours, the ceremonies began. 6On February 19, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission announced that Ghani had won just over 50 percent of the vote, compared with just around 40 percent for Abdullah. 7But Abdullah claimed that he had won the election. He claimed that vote-rigging helped Ghani's vote totals. 8This is the second time the election for president of Afghanistan has resulted in disagreement. Both Ghani and Abdullah claimed victory in the 2014 presidential election. The United States helped negotiate a power-sharing agreement, with Ghani as the president and Abdullah as the chief executive, a newly formed office. 9Taliban - U.S. peace agreement threatened 10The latest disagreement has led to a political crisis that may threaten a peace deal between the United States and the Taliban. The agreement was signed February 29 in Qatar. It requires the Taliban to open talks with an Afghan delegation that includes political forces and civil society. The aim of the talks is to negotiate a permanent cease-fire. 11The Taliban planned talks this week with Afghanistan's government. Those discussions will probably not take place on time because of the inauguration crisis, political observers said. 12One observer, Atta Noori, told the French news agency AFP that "Unity is the only way [forward] if they want to win on the negotiating table." 13Afghan politicians and the public have taken to social media to express their anger at Ghani and Abdullah. 14"Their actions are an insult to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice defending our nation," wrote Hekmat Khalil Karzai, a former deputy foreign minister. "Afghanistan needs to be shielded from those responsible for this tragic comedy." 15Karzai is now chairman of the Center for Conflict and Peace Studies (CAPS) in Kabul. 16I'm Jill Robbins. 17Ayaz Gul reported on this story for VOA News. Jill Robbins adapted it with additional content from AFP for Learning English. George Grow was the editor. 18______________________________________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20incumbent - adj. currently holding office 21envoy - n. a person who is sent by one government to represent it in dealing with another government 22inaugurate - v. a ceremony to swear-in someone, such as a newly elected official, into a job or position 23vote-rigging - n. the act of buying votes or using other illegal methods to influence election results 24ultimate - adj. final; ending or last 25shield - v. to protect or shelter 26What do you think of the two Afghan presidents? We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section.