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KABUL: Abdullah Abdullah, one of presidential contenders who claimed victory in elections and inaugurated on Monday in Kabul, introduced his deputies (called vice presidents) to their office personnel hours after an inauguration ceremony held just behind the wall of presidential palace where his electoral rival and incumbent president Ashraf Ghani was swearing in as president.
Ghani was officially declared the winner of polls, but Abdullah rejected the election commission’s announcement, accusing Ghani of fraud.
Abdullah failed to become president for the third time since 2009. In a 2014 election, he faced Ghani who won the race, but Abdullah didn’t accept the poll result, threatening to form a parallel government. The then US secretary of state John Kerry, brokered a power deal based of which, Ghani agreed to share power with Abdullah as the chief executive, a newly-established post similar to prime minister.
Reports say that Abdullah took his deputies Enayatullah Farahmand and Assadullah Saadati to their offices as the first step in office.
Prior to that, he had appointed some local officials in a few provinces where he managed to secure vote more than Ghani.
