John Kerry praises Abdullah and Ghani as Afghanistan's struggles continue

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/27/john-kerry-afghanistan-abdullah-ghani-power-money

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Secretary of State John Kerry on Saturday saluted what he called the triumph of “statesmanship and compromise” in Afghanistan, which will inaugurate its new president on Monday. On the same day, however, the Afghan government said it would delay paying the October salaries of hundreds of thousands of civil servants, because it does not have enough money.

Kerry was writing in the Washington Post ahead of the inauguration of President Ashraf Ghani, which he said would mark “the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan’s history and the first peaceful leadership transition in more than 40 years”.

Ghani, he said, would “work in tandem with the country’s first-ever chief executive officer”, Abdullah Abdullah, after the “two statesmen … came together to form a government of national unity following a very contentious election”.

Ghani and Abdullah reached their power-sharing agreement last weekend, three controversy-filled months after the country’s presidential election failed to find a clear successor to Hamid Karzai, president since 2004, who came to power in an election which took place after the American-led invasion of the country and the fall of the Taliban.

Ghani will run the cabinet and take charge of strategic functions; Abdullah will be in charge of daily duties.

Kerry wrote: “This moment was not easily arrived at, and it belongs primarily to the millions who courageously went to the polls to vote in April and June in defiance of Taliban threats. The voters’ message was unequivocal: No improvised explosive device and no suicide bomber would stand in the way of their country’s democratic future.”

Aside from continuing the fight against the Taliban, one of the key issues facing Ghani and Abdullah – financing the government – became clear on Saturday, as the director general of the country’s treasury told Reuters his country could not afford the $116m needed to begin processing monthly salaries for October.

Alhaj Mohammad Aqa said the shortfall would not affect salaries for members of the military and police engaged in the fight against the Taliban, and said Afghanistan had asked for $537m in emergency funding from the US, an injection that has not yet been approved.

Kerry, who noted that both Ghani and Abdullah had committed to signing the necessary agreement for US troops to remain in the country beyond the end of this year – a key sticking point with Karzai – said the new Afghan government was built on “a common vision for economic reform, honest government, security and peace”.

The secretary of state also made a wry comparison between the bipartisan co-operation underpinning the new Afghan government and the polarised state of American domestic politics.

“For those at home who are quick to question Afghanistan’s democracy,” he wrote, “they might ask themselves whether they believe that – in less than 90 days – two US presidential candidates could transform a bitter and hotly contested campaign into a unity government with an exceptionally strong mandate to govern.”

Referring to the contested presidential vote which eventually returned George W Bush to power over the Democratic nominee Al Gore, he added: “Flipping the pages of our own history back to the 2000 election, the answer might provoke some humility or at least some perspective on how difficult it can be.”