A Governor in northern Afghanistan became the second in the region to defy an order by President Ashraf Ghani to step down, deepening a political crisis facing the government in Kabul.
Abdul Karim Khadam, the Governor of northern Samangan Province, was sacked along with four other provincial Governors last week. But he followed Atta Mohammad Noor, the Governor of neighbouring Balkh Province, who refused to leave office after he was also sacked in December.
Mr. Khadam’s decision has deepened the political crisis in Afghanistan and threatens to further ethnic divisions between Tajiks in the north and the Pashtun-dominated south.
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‘Decision unfair’
An ethnic Turkmen, Mr. Khadam belongs to the Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e-Islami party, of which Mr. Noor is also a member.
“The decision is unfair and unjust. It is against principles. I condemn this decision and don’t accept it. I will wait for the Jamiat party’s stance about this,” he told reporters late on Sunday. Jamiat in a statement on Monday said his removal was “unjustified and yet another step toward increasing tension in the country”.
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Mr. Ghani, who belongs to the Pashtun group, took the presidency in 2014 in a U.S.-brokered power-sharing deal with his rival, Jamiat-backed Abdullah Abdullah, who was named Chief Executive. Jamiat has accused Mr. Ghani of failing to fulfil the terms of the agreement and has submitted demands to the President’s negotiators, including one calling for a restructuring of Parliament.