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Afghan President Ashraf Ghani officially applied for re-election on Sunday (January 20th) in Kabul on the closing day of the July 20 elections. At least fourteen contenders should compete.
After his inscription, Ashraf Ghani appeared in front of the press alongside his wife and two runners: the ephemeral Interior Minister Amrullah Saleh, who resigned three weeks after his nomination for campaigning, and Sarwar Danish, current vice president.
" The crisis that our country has faced in the last 40 years is due to the absence of a strong government. Our people want a strong government , "said Ashraf Ghani, highlighting the reputation of a strong man of his former interior minister, fierce opponent of the Taliban.
Sharing power
Ghani recently separated from his first vice president, the controversial Uzbek warlord Rashid Dostum, who joined Tajik Abdullah Abdullah, a candidate for the third time.
Abdullah Abdullah, the current chief of the executive, had indeed been an unhappy candidate in 2009 against Hamid Karzai and in 2014 in the election of Ashraf Ghani, tainted by serious suspicions of fraud. The post-election crisis led to a power-sharing between Ghani and Abdullah under the auspices of the United States.
Other candidates
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, considered one of the country's most cruel warlords for bombarding Kabul during the civil war, which called for the "holy war" against foreign troops in Afghanistan and claimed the deaths of 10 French soldiers in 2008, is also a candidate after 20 years of exile and a controversial return to the country in 2017.
Mohammad Haneef Atmar, a former national security adviser who resigned in August, is considered another serious challenger in the race.
If the number of candidates can not evolve, withdrawals and alliances can be formed until the day before the election. This presidential election, initially scheduled for April 20, was delayed by three months to ensure better preparations.
( with AFP )