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                  Kerry Seeks Solution to Afghan Vote Dispute

   by Ayaz Gul

   U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has held a second day of talks in
   Kabul with Afghanistan's two presidential candidates to defuse
   post-election tensions amid allegations of ballot fraud.

   The senior diplomat met Friday with front-runner Ashraf Ghani and
   challenger Abdullah Abdullah. On Saturday, he met first with Abdullah
   for over an hour and then talked with Ghani.  Both claim victory in the
   June 14 runoff to replace outgoing President Hamid Karzai.

   Kerry plans to meet with Mr. Karzai Saturday, as he did on Friday in
   attempts to end the political crisis just months before international
   troops are scheduled to leave the country.

   Kerry encouraged patience with the election process during a string of
   meetings Friday, the same day the United Nations publicized a plan to
   review ballots in the coming weeks.

   His visit appears to have succeeded in getting the candidates to pull
   back from declarations of victory and threats to set up a parallel
   government.

   Preliminary results show Abdullah trailing Ghani by about one million
   votes, but Abdullah rejects those results and has alleged widespread
   fraud and ballot-box stuffing. Abdullah's supporters have been urging
   him to establish his own government.

   The controversy has worried Afghanistan's U.S.-led international
   backers as it threatens to revive deeply rooted ethnic Afghan rivalries
   and undermine a decade long U.S.-led international effort to
   politically and economically stabilize the country.

   Ballot review

   The U.N.'s two-week plan would review 3.5 million ballots from 8,050
   polling stations, which is about 44 percent of all ballots cast.

   While Ghani's camp supports the proposal, Abdullah is asking for a more
   far-reaching review.

   U.S. officials say Kerry's mission is to convince Ghani and Abdullah to
   refrain from declaring victory until an audit of extensive vote fraud
   allegations is conducted.

   Kerry told reporters after a meeting Friday with the top U.N.
   representative in Kabul that "we are in a very, very critical moment
   for Afghanistan", saying "the future potential of the transition hangs
   in the balance" a lot of work needs to be done.

   In a meeting with Kerry, Ghani, a former World Bank official, said he
   agreed with U.S. calls for a thorough review of fraud allegations.

   "Our commitment is to ensure that the election process enjoys the
   integrity and the legitimacy that the people of Afghanistan and the
   world will believe," Ghani said. "Therefore we believe in the most
   intensive and extensive audit possible to restore faith."

   Ghani's chief spokesman Daud Sultanzio told VOA that the presidential
   candidate's meeting with Kerry was held in a "very positive and
   constructive environment," and that Ghani has accepted a U.N. proposal
   for an extensive audit of more than 8,000 polling stations, a demand
   Abdullah recently put forward.

   "Discussions [involved] the election issues of the second round and
   also [United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan] proposals,
   including triggers for audit," he said. "These audits will be
   conducting audits of 8,100 polling stations which would consist of 3.5
   million votes. We have already indicated our acceptance of this
   proposal and I hope and we invite Dr. Abdullah and his team also to
   join us in accepting their own proposal so we can move the process
   ahead and remove these uncertainties in the country."

   Abdullah spokesman Muslim Sadaat told VOA that Kerry held "only a
   preliminary" meeting with the presidential candidate without going into
   details.

   "But we are willing to meet them again and talk about a solution for
   the electoral deadlock," he said. "John Kerry said that [he is] here in
   Afghanistan to find a solution for this process. Dr. Abdullah once
   again talked to the U.S. secretary of state regarding the process,
   problems and challenges that they face, problems and challenges that
   were inside the [Election and Electoral Complaints] Commissions."

   Abdullah, a former foreign minister, alleges that President Karzai, the
   election commission and the Ghani campaign colluded to organize ballot
   box stuffing, charges that have been denied.

   Abdullah topped the first round of presidential elections in April but
   did not win more than 50 percent of the vote. Ghani is leading the
   runoff vote by about a million votes.

   Warning given

   Kerry already has warned Abdullah against using extra-legal means to
   grab power after his running mate talked about setting up a parallel
   government.

   The United States says it does not take sides in the election, but does
   support a credible transparent process.

   As Kerry arrived in Kabul, dozens of protestors blocked a road near the
   city's international airport, with one man calling for a "political
   settlement" between the candidates. Another said Afghanistan needed to
   resolve the election internally, without Kerry's help.

   Related video report by VOA's Meredith Buel, "Kerry Holds Talks in
   Kabul About Afghan Political Crisis":

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References

   1. http://www.voanews.com/content/kerry-hopes-solution-can-be-found-afghan-vote-dispute/1955292.html