Ashraf Ghani declared winner of Afghan poll

KABUL: Afghanistan on Tuesday declared incumbent Ashraf Ghani winner of presidential election, but his main rival rejected the result and vowed to form his own government, threatening new turmoil as the United State strives to seal a US troop withdrawal deal with Taliban.

Polls were held on Sept. 28 to select a president for the fourth time since U.S.-led forces overthrew the Taliban government in 2001. But the process was marred by allegations of rigging, technical problems with biometric devices used for voting, attacks and other irregularities..

Ghani won 50.64% of the vote, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) said on Tuesday. Abdullah Abdullah, Ghani’s former deputy and main rival, was named runner-up with 39.52%.

Abdullah Abdullah nevertheless said he and his allies had won the election and would form the government.

“The result they (IEC) announced today was a result of election robbery, a coup against democracy, a betrayal of the will of the people, and we consider it illegal,” he told a news conference following the announcement.

There was no immediate statement from the United States recognizing Ghani as the election victor.

The result echoes 2014, when both Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah alleged massive fraud by the other side, forcing the United States to broker an awkward power-sharing arrangement that made Ghani president and Abdullah Abdullah his chief executive.

The relationship has since been marred by distrust and a jostling for power in Kabul.

A potential political crisis looms as the United States and the Taliban near an agreement in Doha, which officials on both sides say could be announced by the end of February if an initial seven-day reduction in violence (RIV) is successfully observed. The RIV also would cover Afghan forces.

Afghanistan’s acting interior minister said the RIV would be enforced within five days.