Afghanistan’s presidential election, touted in advance as its first ever democratic and peaceful transition of power, looks set instead to deliver a verdict that could deeply divide the country just months before most U.S. troops are due to depart.
Preliminary results released by the Independent Election Commission Monday pointed to a victory for Ashraf Ghani, but amid claims by rival Abdullah Abdullah of massive rigging, ballots from some 7,000 voting stations – almost one-third of the total – are to be recounted.
Secretary of State John Kerry, in a statement released as he traveled to China early Tuesday, said the U.S. expected Afghan authorities to investigate allegations of irregularities, but also warned against any attempts by people protesting the interim results to take matters into their own hands.
“I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern,” Kerry said, adding that “there is no justifiable recourse to violence or threats of violence, or for resort to extra-constitutional measures or threats of the same.”
“We call on all Afghan leaders to maintain calm in order to preserve the gains of the last decade and maintain the trust of the Afghan people,” he said. “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. “
Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stressed that the results were “not final or authoritative and may not predict the final outcome.”
“Serious allegations of fraud” had not been sufficiently investigated, she told a briefing.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/us-cal...
Afghanistan’s presidential election, touted in advance as its first ever democratic and peaceful transition of power, looks set instead to deliver a verdict that could deeply divide the country just months before most U.S. troops are due to depart.
Preliminary results released by the Independent Election Commission Monday pointed to a victory for Ashraf Ghani, but amid claims by rival Abdullah Abdullah of massive rigging, ballots from some 7,000 voting stations – almost one-third of the total – are to be recounted.
Secretary of State John Kerry, in a statement released as he traveled to China early Tuesday, said the U.S. expected Afghan authorities to investigate allegations of irregularities, but also warned against any attempts by people protesting the interim results to take matters into their own hands.
“I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern,” Kerry said, adding that “there is no justifiable recourse to violence or threats of violence, or for resort to extra-constitutional measures or threats of the same.”
“We call on all Afghan leaders to maintain calm in order to preserve the gains of the last decade and maintain the trust of the Afghan people,” he said. “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. “
Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stressed that the results were “not final or authoritative and may not predict the final outcome.”
“Serious allegations of fraud” had not been sufficiently investigated, she told a briefing.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/us-cal...
Preliminary results released by the Independent Election Commission Monday pointed to a victory for Ashraf Ghani, but amid claims by rival Abdullah Abdullah of massive rigging, ballots from some 7,000 voting stations – almost one-third of the total – are to be recounted.
Secretary of State John Kerry, in a statement released as he traveled to China early Tuesday, said the U.S. expected Afghan authorities to investigate allegations of irregularities, but also warned against any attempts by people protesting the interim results to take matters into their own hands.
“I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern,” Kerry said, adding that “there is no justifiable recourse to violence or threats of violence, or for resort to extra-constitutional measures or threats of the same.”
“We call on all Afghan leaders to maintain calm in order to preserve the gains of the last decade and maintain the trust of the Afghan people,” he said. “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. “
Earlier, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki stressed that the results were “not final or authoritative and may not predict the final outcome.”
“Serious allegations of fraud” had not been sufficiently investigated, she told a briefing.
http://www.cnsnews.com/news/article/patrick-goodenough/us-cal...
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