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KABUL: Loyalists and allies of self-proclaimed president Abdullah on Saturday appointed a new governor for Jawzjan province as part of an unfolding campaign to form a parallel state in defiance to the president-elect’s government. The Independent Directorate of Local Governance says governors of the country’s 34 provinces will continue in their office.
Abdulla’s allies on Sunday established as the governor of Jawzjan in the north, according to Bashir Ahmad TahYenj, spokesman of National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan who vowed to appoint more governors in the near future.
Abdullah proclaimed himself president after electoral commission gave the lead to the incumbent President Ghani and announced him the winner of September vote after a painstaking months-long audit and recount of hundreds of thousands of ballots in the wake of widespread allegations of ballot stuffing and fraud.
The appointment comes two days after supporters of Abdullah called for the results of the country’s presidential election to be annulled because of widespread vote rigging. Chief Executive’s Deputy Spokesman, Omid Meisam, warned Saturday that they will continue their campaign to establish new governors in the remaining provinces.
A day earlier, Abdulla’s team established Mohammad Noor Rahmani as the governor of Sar-e-Pul, as they ripped down President Ghani’s portrait from the provincial governor’s office. They announced their plan to appoint more governors in the near future.
In the latest twist in the continuing saga of post-election chaos, Panjshir’s incumbent governor, Kamaluddin Nizami, just went rogue, arguing he would disobey Ghani’s order.
The ‘loyalists’ have purportedly established Ghazi Nawaz Tanai as the governor of Khost province. Tanai had previously served as advisor to Chief Executive.
There was euphoria in Charikar city in Parwan province as Abdullah’s supporters celebrated a victory – self-proclaimed by Abdullah – by dancing in streets.
The situation seemed when an attempt by Abdullah loyalists in Baghlan province to replace the governor was foiled as Pul-e-Khumri city was reportedly thronged with government armed forces, fortifying governor’s office.
This bedlam has prompted the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan to bristle. The mission has said that it is ‘extremely concerned by the ongoing attempts to replace government officials’. “Resorting to force or any other unlawful means at the very time that efforts are ongoing to realize a reduction in violence – with the expectation that it can lead to the start of an intra-Afghan negotiation on peace – jeopardizes the population’s hope for peace,” it said.
