KABUL – Afghanistan Supreme court has extended the term of President AshrafGhani until delayed elections take place, an official said Sunday,resolving for now the question of what would happen after his term expireson May 22.
Presidential elections were initially slated for April 20, but Afghan pollofficials were unprepared for a new nationwide vote so soon after Octoberparliamentary elections.
With some final results from that election still pending, the presidentialpoll was delayed until July 20, then pushed back again until September 28.
Ariana News published a statement from the court saying it “has extendedthe service term of President Ghani until the re-election of a newpresident”.
“The supreme court understands the financial, security and logisticalchallenges faced by the election commission.”
While the court did not make the statement public, Faraidoon Khwazoon, thedeputy spokesman to Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, confirmed thedocument to AFP, noting that Abdullah’s term had also been extended.
“Yes, the supreme court has made its decision, based on the constitution,on the extension of the service term of the president,” Khwazoon said,adding the extension would last “until the re-election of the newpresident”.
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Ghani’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.
The delayed elections come as the United States tries to negotiate a peacedeal with the Taliban, and some had speculated the polls were beingdeliberately stalled to create more space for those talks.
Opposition politicians and presidential contenders had called for aninterim government to fill the gap between Ghani’s mandate expiring and thepresidential elections.
The supreme court said it was asking “presidential candidates to respectthe delay in the presidential elections”.
Ghani was elected in 2014 in a closely contested poll that was mired byallegations of fraud and that saw him lead a power-sharing government.-APP/AFP
