Ahmadzai declared Afghanistan President, but final tally kept secret

Announcement came hours after Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and rival, Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement to end two months of wrangling over accusations of vote fraud.

September 21, 2014 07:31 pm | Updated May 23, 2016 06:51 pm IST - KABUL

A man films Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who will become President, on screen at right, and Abdullah Abdullah as they sign a power-sharing deal on national TV in Kabul on Sunday.

A man films Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, who will become President, on screen at right, and Abdullah Abdullah as they sign a power-sharing deal on national TV in Kabul on Sunday.

Afghanistan’s election commission declared former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the war-ravaged country’s president-elect on Sunday after an acrimonious dispute over ballot fraud, but did not give the final vote tally after a U.N.-monitored audit.

The announcement came hours after Mr. Ahmadzai and rival, Abdullah Abdullah, signed a power-sharing agreement to end two months of bitter wrangling over accusations of fraud that undermined confidence in the election and emboldened the Taliban insurgency at a crucial time as most foreign troops prepare to leave.

Independent Election Commission chairman Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani acknowledged grave flaws in the election process and said the U.N. audit could not detect all of it.

Nevertheless, he said that based on the official final tally of votes, the commission had a duty to declare a victor.

“The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan declares Dr. Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai as the President of Afghanistan,” Mr. Nuristani said.

He did not give the final percentages and took no questions.

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