John Kerry and the Afghan Stalemate

Three months after Afghanistan’s presidential election and two months after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry brokered an agreement to resolve the dispute that arose from it, the country’s new president has yet to take office. Announcement of the official winner keeps getting delayed. Afghanistan can’t afford this deadlock, and Afghans don’t deserve it. The presumed winner, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, has the most to lose from this stalemate and thus the most responsibility for resolving it. But Kerry and Ghani’s rival, former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, have roles to play as well. Both Ghani and Abdullah represent a vast improvement over the corrupt rule of current President Hamid Karzai. Afghanistan would benefit from having both in positions of responsibility. So what’s preventing a power-sharing arrangement? Ghani says the constitution grants the president ultimate authority. Abdullah, for his part, believes that he’s had two elections stolen from him now and is playing with the prospect of mob rule. Agencies