UNITED NATIONS: The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) launched a fresh appeal for peace in the war-ravaged country, reminding Afghans as well as the international community that civilian casualties recently surpassed 100,000 in the past 10 years alone.

The UN appeal for peace follows media reports that the recently held presidential elections could split Afghanistan further along tribal and ethnic lines if the results are not accepted by all sides.

On Sunday, the Afghan Election Commission announced the preliminary results, almost three months after votes were cast on Sept 28. And on Thursday, Afghanistan’s Independent Election Complaints Commission (IECC) announced that it had already registered 16,500 complaints challenging the results.

Preliminary results gave Afghan President Ashraf Ghani an edge over his main challenger Abdullah Abdullah, and showed he polled 50.64 per cent of the votes.

The lead, obviously, is not strong enough to silence Mr Abdullah, a third-time candidate, or Mr Ghani’s other rivals. Mr Abdullah’s team has already filed about 8,000 complaints while Mr Ghani’s supporters filed about 3,000 counter-complaints. Another candidate Gulbadin Hekmatyar’s team filed 4,400 complaints while Mr Rahmatullah Nabil’s men filed 15.

UNAMA, which played a supervisory role in the elections, has warned that each complaint must be taken seriously. “Any decisions taken by the electoral management bodies in the final stage of the process must have clear legal and technical justifications and should be explained to the people of Afghanistan in clear terms,” said UNAMA’s head Tadamichi Yamamoto, who is also UN secretary general’s special representative for Afghanistan.

A map published by the Election Commission shows why international observers fear an election dispute could further divide Afghanistan. The map shows that Mr Ghani won the 16 south and eastern provinces while Mr Abdullah seized 18 provinces in the north and central highlands. The division reinforces Afghanistan’s deep ethnic divide.

Such divisions could further weaken Washington’s efforts to negotiate a peace deal with the Taliban. US diplomats have indicated that they want to stay focused on peace talks and will not interfere in internal Afghan politics.

Five years ago, former US Secretary of State John Kerry negotiated a compromise, which allowed both Mr Ghani and Mr Abdullah to remain in the government, as president and the chief executive. But this time, both candidates have said they will not accept a new chief executive.

Washington had indicated earlier that it’s not going to endorse any single party or candidate as the winner, as this would erode the legitimacy of the new government. The Taliban are already refusing to negotiate with Kabul, claiming that it cannot survive for a week without America’s support.

Published in Dawn, December 27th, 2019