Afghan presidential contender Abdullah Abdullah´s camp rejected preliminary results of last month´s run-off election on Monday as a “coup” against the people, putting him on a dangerous collision course with his rival, Ashraf Ghani.
The Independent Election Commission announced on Monday that Ghani won the June 14 second round with 56.44 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. The tally might change when the final official numbers come out on July 22.
Abdullah´s camp responded angrily, saying the result was invalid because it did not throw out all the fraudulent votes. “We don´t accept the results which were announced today and we consider this as a coup against people´s votes,” said Mujib Rahman Rahimi, a spokesman for Abdullah´s campaign. His rejection sets the stage for a possible bloody standoff between ethnic groups or even secession of parts of the fragile
country, which is already deeply divided along tribal lines.
In a blunt warning, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said “Washington expected a full and thorough review of all reasonable allegations of irregularities” and that there was no justification for violence or “extra-constitutional measures”.
“Any action to take power by extra-legal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the United States and the international community,” Kerry said in a statement issued as he travelled to China on Tuesday.
