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Afghans Weary After Election Dispute Amid Peace Process With Taliban

Ayesha Tanzeem

   DOHA, QATAR - Intense pressure from the international community,
   coupled with fatigue among ordinary Afghans toward a repeat of past
   election fiascos, seems to have taken the wind out of a political
   crisis in Kabul following the bitterly disputed results of a
   presidential election.

   After the Afghan election commission declared incumbent President
   Ashraf Ghani the winner earlier this month, his chief rival,
   AbdullahAbdullah, declared the results invalid and himself the real
   victor.

   This week, both sides were planning parallel inauguration ceremonies. A
   similar crisis after the 2014 election became so destabilizing that it
   required direct intervention from then-Secretary of State John Kerry,
   who brokered a power-sharing agreement and formed the Unity Government
   that led Afghanistan for the past five years.

   This time is different. While the Afghan elite was busy staking its
   claim to power, regular Afghanswere suffering from a sense ofdejavu
   multiple times over.

   "The fact that elections have been contested before [not just once but
   almost twice, in 2009 as well], that Afghans and observers predicted a
   similar standoff to 2014 would happen, has contributed to a sense of
   inevitability and fatigue for many," said AndrewWatkins, a senior
   analyst on Afghanistan for the International Crisis Group.

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