Afghanistan’s months-long dispute over who won last year’s presidential election has ended after the 
incumbent, Ashraf Ghani, and his main challenger, Abdullah Abdullah, agreed a power-sharing deal. 
Controversially, the deal makes the former vice-president, Abdul Rashid Dostum, who is accused of 
ordering the torture and rape of a political rival, marshal of the Afghan armed forces and a senior 
government official. The deal comes after heavy pressure from the US to resolve the eight-month 
standoff at the top of Afghan politics, to smooth the way for a new administration to start US-brokered 
peace talks with the Taliban. 

The US secretary of state, Mike Pompeo, withdrew $1bn in aid after the two long-term rivals refused 
to compromise and held parallel presidential inaugurations a few hundred metres apart earlier this year. 
Ghani is to stay on as president, but give Abdullah control of half the cabinet posts and leadership of 
the office managing a US-brokered peace process, where he will have five deputies. Abdullah on 
Sunday said the deal was not a “privilege handout” and came at a very difficult time when the nation 
faces serious threats. Afghanistan is experiencing a rapid spread of coronavirus and dozens were killed 
in attacks by militants last week, including on a maternity ward. 

“We now need to come together as a nation, strive to seek solutions that are practical,” Abdullah said. 
Ghani said it was a “great day in the history of Afghanistan” as it proved that Afghans can move forward 
without the help of foreign mediators. “In coming days, I hope, with unity and cooperation, we can pave 
the way for a ceasefire and then a long term peace,” he said after signing the deal. Photos from the 
signing ceremony showed the former president Hamid Karzai and a number of current and former 
government official present. Dostum was not among them but his son, Batur Dostum, attended. 

The title to be offered to Dostum is a recognition of his political power, despite decades of scandal and 
longstanding accusations of human rights abuses. He still commands one of the largest, and most 
reliable voting blocs in the country, among his ethnic Uzbek community in northern Afghanistan. Those 
votes have persuaded other politicians to set aside their scruples to broker deals with him. He ran on 
Ghani’s ticket in 2014, even though the president had previously called him a “known killer”. 

Then three years ago he left the country, fleeing into exile in Turkey after Ahmad Ishchi, a politician 
from Dostum’s home province of Jowzjan, said he was abducted, severely beaten and raped with the 
barrel of a rifle by Dostum’s bodyguards. The government promised no one was above the law, 
following international calls for an investigation. The case is still technically open, but did not hinder 
Dostum’s eventual return to politics, this time as Abdullah’s running mate. This is the second time 
Ghani and Abdullah have negotiated a power-sharing deal; the 2019 election was a virtual replay of the 
2014 contest, down to the disputed results and mutual accusations of cheating. 

Last time the then US secretary of state, John Kerry, stepped in to broker a national unity government 
for Afghanistan. Under Donald Trump, Washington had made clear it was no longer interested in such 
heavy lifting, and the Afghan political establishment would need to find its own solution. The main US 
focus in Afghanistan has been ending its war there, now nearly two decades old, and earlier this year it 
signed a troop withdrawal deal with the Taliban. That agreement was meant to pave the way for talks 
between the Afghans, and provide Trump with a landmark achievement going into his re-election 
campaign. 

Efforts to start those negotiations had stalled amid the political crisis, heavy Taliban violence and 
disputes over prisoner exchange plans. A devastating attack on a maternity hospital last week further 
escalated tensions, with Ghani ordering Afghan forces back on the offensive in response. The Taliban 
condemned the violence and denied any role, but no insurgent group has yet claimed the attack. The 
US peace envoy said it was the work of Islamic State, without providing evidence, and urged both the 
Taliban and the government back to the peace talks. Afghan government officials say it is too early to 
apportion blame or exonerate anyone. 

The NATO secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, welcomed the deal and said it is more important than 
ever that all Afghan leaders unite and work towards peace. The Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg, 
invited the arrangement and said it is a higher priority than any time in recent memory that every single 
Afghan pioneer join together and move in the direction of harmony. “We approach the Taliban to satisfy 
their duties, diminish viciousness presently, participate in intra-Afghan exchanges, and make genuine 
trade-offs for enduring harmony and the advantage all things considered” he said. “Nato partners and 
accomplices remain immovably dedicated to Afghanistan’s drawn out security and soundness.” 

View expressed in this article are of the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect Pajhwok’s editorial policy.