Tweet
Ashraf Ghani sworn in as Afghanistan president
The election of a new president marks the first democratic transfer of power since the fall of the Taliban, but is marred by violent unrest
Afghan President-elect Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai speaks to supporters during a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan Photo: EPA
By Harriet Alexander
6:30PM BST 29 Sep 2014
Afghanistan has sworn in its first president to be elected in a democratic transfer of power, as Hamid Karzai bid farewell to the presidential palace after 13 years and Ashraf Ghani took his place.
Dr Ghani, an anthropologist who spent many years abroad working for the World Bank, as an academic, and as Afghanistan’s finance minister, was inaugurated yesterday at the culmination of a messy four-month electoral process. In June he was chosen as the successor to Mr Karzai, but his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, alleged electoral fraud – allegations which culminated in a power-sharing government sealed yesterday.
Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (L) takes the oath during his inauguration (Reuters)
Mr Abdullah will be “chief executive” – a new role, similar to a prime minister – as part of a power-sharing deal brokered by John Kerry, the US secretary of state.
And Dr Ghani used his inaugural speech to call for unity, and for Taliban insurgents to join peace talks after 13 years of war.
Related Articles
“We ask every villager to call for peace. We ask Muslim scholars to advise the Taliban, and if they don’t listen to their advice, they should cut off any relations.”
An armed member of the Afghan security forces in position at a check point in Kabul (EPA)
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, said: “The inauguration of President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai today marks the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan’s history. This is truly an historic moment, made possible by the millions of Afghans who turned out to vote in April and June.”
Yet despite the accolades, his election comes at a difficult time for the country.
Three months before the end of Nato’s US-led combat mission, the Taliban still pose a serious challenge to national stability, and have launched several fresh offensives in recent months. The town of Sangin, where nearly a quarter of the 453 British soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan died, is the scene of renewed fighting. Yesterday, as Dr Ghani was taking his oath, a suicide attack outside Kabul airport’s main entrance killed four members of the security forces and three civilians.
Today Dr Ghani is due to sign an agreement allowing 12,500 US-led troops to remain in the country to 2015, with a mission to support and train the national police and army. Mr Karzai, constitutionally barred from running for a third term in office, had strongly resisted signing the agreement.
But his inauguration also brought new hope to the country – especially for women.
Rula Ghani, the wife of the new president, was praised by Dr Ghani for her support in unprecedented comments which were seized upon by social media users.
“Dr Ghani thanks his wife Bibi Gul [Rula] for her support. For me one of the best part of his speech,” said Shafic Gawhari, the Afghanistan CEO of media empire Moby.
Mujib Mashal, an Afghan journalist, tweeted: “Another big step in president @ashrafghani’s speech was taking the time to thank his wife Rula, by her adopted afghan name Bibi Gul.”
Harun Najafizada, the bureau chief for BBC’s Persian service in Afghanistan, added: “Rare moment! Love for wife: Ghani gets emotional when recalls his wife Bibi Gul’s support! Afghan men have to learn from it.”
Mrs Ghani, a Lebanese-American Christian, met her husband when they both studied at the American University in Beirut in the 1970s.
She is thought to be planning on working with women and young people, although how that will be carried out is unclear. Her predecessor, Zinat Karzai, a doctor, was dubbed “the invisible woman” after she was almost never seen or heard of in public.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...president.html
The election of a new president marks the first democratic transfer of power since the fall of the Taliban, but is marred by violent unrest
Afghan President-elect Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai speaks to supporters during a ceremony in Kabul, Afghanistan Photo: EPA By Harriet Alexander
6:30PM BST 29 Sep 2014
Afghanistan has sworn in its first president to be elected in a democratic transfer of power, as Hamid Karzai bid farewell to the presidential palace after 13 years and Ashraf Ghani took his place.
Dr Ghani, an anthropologist who spent many years abroad working for the World Bank, as an academic, and as Afghanistan’s finance minister, was inaugurated yesterday at the culmination of a messy four-month electoral process. In June he was chosen as the successor to Mr Karzai, but his rival, Abdullah Abdullah, alleged electoral fraud – allegations which culminated in a power-sharing government sealed yesterday.
Afghanistan's new President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (L) takes the oath during his inauguration (Reuters)
Mr Abdullah will be “chief executive” – a new role, similar to a prime minister – as part of a power-sharing deal brokered by John Kerry, the US secretary of state.
And Dr Ghani used his inaugural speech to call for unity, and for Taliban insurgents to join peace talks after 13 years of war.
Related Articles
- “We ask opponents of the government, specially the Taliban and Hezb-e-Islami [another militant group], to enter political talks,” he said after being sworn in in Kabul. “Any problems that they have, they should tell us, we will find a solution.
“We ask every villager to call for peace. We ask Muslim scholars to advise the Taliban, and if they don’t listen to their advice, they should cut off any relations.”
An armed member of the Afghan security forces in position at a check point in Kabul (EPA)
Philip Hammond, the foreign secretary, said: “The inauguration of President Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai today marks the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan’s history. This is truly an historic moment, made possible by the millions of Afghans who turned out to vote in April and June.”
Yet despite the accolades, his election comes at a difficult time for the country.
Three months before the end of Nato’s US-led combat mission, the Taliban still pose a serious challenge to national stability, and have launched several fresh offensives in recent months. The town of Sangin, where nearly a quarter of the 453 British soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan died, is the scene of renewed fighting. Yesterday, as Dr Ghani was taking his oath, a suicide attack outside Kabul airport’s main entrance killed four members of the security forces and three civilians.
Today Dr Ghani is due to sign an agreement allowing 12,500 US-led troops to remain in the country to 2015, with a mission to support and train the national police and army. Mr Karzai, constitutionally barred from running for a third term in office, had strongly resisted signing the agreement.
But his inauguration also brought new hope to the country – especially for women.
Rula Ghani, the wife of the new president, was praised by Dr Ghani for her support in unprecedented comments which were seized upon by social media users.
“Dr Ghani thanks his wife Bibi Gul [Rula] for her support. For me one of the best part of his speech,” said Shafic Gawhari, the Afghanistan CEO of media empire Moby.
Mujib Mashal, an Afghan journalist, tweeted: “Another big step in president @ashrafghani’s speech was taking the time to thank his wife Rula, by her adopted afghan name Bibi Gul.”
Harun Najafizada, the bureau chief for BBC’s Persian service in Afghanistan, added: “Rare moment! Love for wife: Ghani gets emotional when recalls his wife Bibi Gul’s support! Afghan men have to learn from it.”
Mrs Ghani, a Lebanese-American Christian, met her husband when they both studied at the American University in Beirut in the 1970s.
She is thought to be planning on working with women and young people, although how that will be carried out is unclear. Her predecessor, Zinat Karzai, a doctor, was dubbed “the invisible woman” after she was almost never seen or heard of in public.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worl...president.html
Comment