Former finance minister Ashraf Ghani named Afghanistan's president-elect Sunday Sep 21,2014

 

Former finance minister Ashraf Ghani has been named Afghanistan's president-elect after he signed a deal to share power with his opponent - ending months of turmoil which has destabilized the nation.

Ashraf Ghani is expected to be sworn in as president in about a week, according to Karzai's spokesman Aimal Faizi.

The settlement will also come as a relief for Afghans, who have watched the tortuous process play out since they first voted in April.

Hamid Karzai has ruled since soon after the Taliban government was ousted by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001, and the drawn-out election was meant to mark the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan's troubled history.

Abdullah, a former anti-Taliban resistance fighter, draws his support from Tajiks and other northern ethnic groups. Ghani, an ex-World Bank economist, is backed by Pashtun tribes of the south and east

Abdullah, left, and Ghani, right, signing the power sharing agreement at the presidential palace in Kabul on Sunday Sep 21,2014

 

Under the terms of the unity government deal signed on Sunday, Ghani will share power with a chief executive proposed by Abdullah.

The two will share control over who leads key institutions such as the Afghan army and other executive decisions.

The announcement withheld the final election numbers, apparently as part of the political deal between Ghani and rival Abdullah Abdullah, a former foreign minister who claimed the process was rigged against him.

The two shake hands after the prolonged standoff following the election, during which both sides accused the other of fraud

 

'The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan declares Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the president of Afghanistan,' commission chief Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani said

Note

Final election results have been delayed for weeks to await an audit of all 8 million ballots cast in the June 14 run-off vote between Ghani and Abdullah, the top finishers in the first round in April.

The audit was part of a deal brokered in July by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to try to avert a descent into violence.