After the (Afghanistan) Recount: No Unity Government?
Barring the results of a fraud commission’s recount of 10 percent of the ballots in the Afghanistan election, Hamid Karzai’s victory has been tallied at 54
Jul 31, 2020563.2K Shares9.8M Views
Barring the results of a fraud commission’s recount of 10 percent of the ballots in the Afghanistan election, Hamid Karzai’s victory has been tallied at 54 percent, meaning he can avoid a second round of voting. I turned to a U.S. diplomat, who agreed to speak only on background, to figure out what comes next.
Most importantly: chances are there won’t be a unity government, the preferred remedy for some in the Obama administrationfor an Afghan legitimacy crisis. “I don’t think Abdullah’s interested in a position in the government,” the diplomat said, referring to Karzai rival Abdullah Abdullah. “His stature has increased enormously,” and he has no reason to sacrifice that for a cabinet position. “I don’t think that a unity government that just involves personalities will do it,” the diplomat continued. Fundamentally, the problems with Afghan governance are structural, and so a more serious proposal for a unity government — not that this is necessarily in the cards — would be based on “a programmatic agenda for governance and constitutional change.”
The trouble is with the presidency itself, the diplomat noted. “Here you have a diverse country, ethnically and geographically, with a strong [central governing figure] and a winner-take-all system,” said the diplomat. “It’s a highly centralized political system in a highly decentralized country.”
Paolo Reyna
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Paolo Reyna is a writer and storyteller with a wide range of interests. He graduated from New York University with a Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies.
Paolo enjoys writing about celebrity culture, gaming, visual arts, and events. He has a keen eye for trends in popular culture and an enthusiasm for exploring new ideas. Paolo's writing aims to inform and entertain while providing fresh perspectives on the topics that interest him most.
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