Afghanistan, jolted for long by a dispute on the outcome of the presidential elections, has finally seen resolution of the stand-off as the rival candidates have reached a power-sharing deal. Former finance minister Ashraf Ghani and former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah have agreed to end the stalemate as to who would become the next president of the war-torn nation.
Ghani would be the next president while Abdullah is expected to adorn the new post of chief executive officer (CEO), which is equivalent to the prime minister.
They shook hands in the presidential palace following the deal even as the re-counting of many of the votes of June 14 elections was in progress.
Out-going president Hamid Karzai's spokesman said that Ghani, a former World Bank economist, is likely to be sworn in within a week. It is not clear when Abdullah would assume the new responsibility or he would nominate someone else for the job of the CEO.
Earlier, Hamid Karzai expressed his deep concern over the stand-off in the presidential elections. Karzai, who is to relinquish his position after two terms - the maximum allowed by the constitution - said he was dismayed over the dispute over his successor as none of the two rivals wanted to concede defeat.
Afghanistan - the war-ravaged country for last several years - appeared at the threshold of a new crisis over the election of the country's president.
The United States Secretary of State John Kerry twice visited Kabul in recent months to break the stalemate, but only with partial success. However, it is the efforts of the US that have facilitated the deal on power-sharing.
Kerry held talks with both Abdullah Abdullah and his rival Ashraf Ghani, who is said to be leading the counting that has not been officially over. Both the candidates gave their views about the elections that look eventually to favour Ghani, but most analysts believed Abdullah was being robbed off the victory.
This has become a major problem in the country which is bracing with the situation of uncertainty as the NATO troops are scheduled to leave the country by the end of the current year.
Kerry, during his two visits, stressed that any crisis resulting from the presidential polls would have a terribly bad impact on Afghanistan, which can ill-afford a perilous situation at this point of time.
Evidently, the US, whose stake in the country is very high, is badly disturbed and urged both candidates to calm down and seek a settlement of the crisis. It seems that both candidates have heeded to the appeal. Â
Earlier, rival candidates fuelled up tensions ahead of the announcement of the election results while the country has been witnessing an escalation of fighting with the Islamic militants.
The two problems appear as big challenges for the Kabul government when the US-led NATO troops are scheduled to leave the conflict-ridden country and the experienced president Hamid Karzai is set to quit office.
With two candidates at loggerheads for the post of the president, the results looked set to tip Afghanistan into a risky period of street protests and uncertainty.
While Abdullah contested the fairness of the on-going counting of the votes, Ghani was seen as favourite nominee of the outgoing president Karzai.
Abdullah, who once contested unsuccessfully against Karzai for the highest position, won the first round of the presidential polls against Ghani.
His supporters allege that Abdullah's victory is certain in the round-off voting, but "conspiracies" were being hatched to deny him the well-deserved win.
NATO and the Kabul government foresee quick fall in the intensity of the war in the coming days as they feel things are going their ways. Well, it is a see-saw game and the success on the war-front often swings the fortunes.
Needless to say, the NATO is well equipped with all modern dispensations under control with enormous financial and other strengths.
How long the Islamic militants can fight them is a matter that is often talked about even though they have been fighting the much superior opponents for a long time.
The NATO led by the world's only super power United States plans to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan by 2014 and the security of the country would be handed over to the Afghan authorities.
True, the NATO has made strides in areas known as strongholds of the militants. Nonetheless, the nature of the attacks raises question -- whether cessation of the war would be possible by that time and the Kabul government troops would be able to withstand the assaults of the militants.
The NATO says it would be possible to quit by the timeframe set by them. But the US is planning to keep some units of its armed force even after 2014 under a bilateral agreement with Kabul, which president Karzai has so far not approved.
Both the presidential candidates have supported the bilateral accord proposed by the US in varying degrees.
The United States government said that Washington expects all Afghan quarters having a stake in democracy and country's stability would work for political stability of the nation.
Now that a lingering problem has been resolved, the US has expressed it happiness over the development. It said it would extend all out support for implementing the power-sharing arrangement that has broken the three-month long stalemate over the outcome of the presidential elections.
However, it remains to be seen if new problems crop up centring the deal as fear also exists that the rivalry may not die down easily.
Earlier, Karzai said he was packing up to quit the heavily secured presidential palace as he was not feeling comfortable to remain at the helm beyond his term due to the stand-off.
zaglulchowdhury@yahoo.com