Abdullah, Hekmatyar Meet to Form Coalition for Possible Runoff

Abdullah Abdullah and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, two presidential candidates, met on Sunday night to form a coalition for a possible runoff, a source close to one of the candidates, who was present at the meeting, told Ariana News on Monday.

According to these politicians, the Afghan presidential election that took place on September 28 will not have a winner in the first round.

“They met for the sake of national interest, because both Hekmatyar and Abdullah have experienced war. War brings nothing, except destruction and misery. Their meeting was great,” said Matiullah Matin, a political activist.

However, a member of the Stability and Partnership electoral team said the meeting focused on brining transparency in election, and claimed that the election will have a winner in the first round.

“The leaders of Stability and Partnership and Peace and Islamic Justice met last night where they discussed ways to prevent illegal decisions made by the Election Commission and reduce the pressures by [the] Palace over the Election Commission,” said Fridoon Khwazon, Spokesman of the Stability and Partnership campaign.

Delawar Faizan, a political commentator, believes that the Independent Election Commission must be prepared to hold another round of election based on the rule of law.

“Runoff is better than a crisis,” Faizan told Ariana News.

This comes as both Hekmatyar and Abdullah are members of the two rival political parties who during the civil war, fought each other over controlling power in Afghanistan.

By Hesamuddin Hesam