Afghan Presidential Candidate To Boycott Unity Talks

Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah has threatened to boycott ongoing talks for a unity government.



He has accused his rival Ashraf Ghani of large-scale vote fraud in the election's run-off round held in June and has rejected an audit of 8 million votes that suggests there has only been a small amount of fraud, by both sides. 



Abdullah's spokesman, Fazil Sancharaki, told reporters in Kabul on Monday that they would not accept the results if the audit continued in the same way. 



"We have set a deadline for tomorrow, if our demands are not paid attention, and the audit process continues in the same manner, we will boycott both the political and audit processes," said Sancharaki, adding that the future Afghan government would not be able to function without Abdullah's team.



Ghani and Abdullah had already signed a power-sharing deal that would grant the losing candidate a specially created post of "chief executive," allowing them influence over some decisions. Abdullah is said to be unhappy with the position's limited authority. 



The Independent Election Commission has suggested that the audit process will be completed within a few days and the final result announced shortly afterwards.



www.aa.com.tr/en - Kabil