Afghan President Under Fire as Critics Chafe at Overdue Vote
So far, the political opposition is really a host of smaller ones: a wide range of coalitions made up of former warlords, former government ministers
and members of Parliament united by little more than what they see as Mr. Ghani’s political mismanagement and his inability to deliver elections.
"They have lost their political base, they have lost their political credibility,
and that’s very bad because this country is built on political consensus." Many Western diplomats in Kabul are frustrated by Mr. Ghani’s lack of progress on elections, with some even beginning to question whether he ever intended to hold them.
When he has backed off and let the process do its work, they say he doesn’t have the political will to hold elections." For American officials, the pressure mounting on Mr. Ghani has been particularly awkward:
Some of their closest Afghan allies over the years, still essential to the military campaign, are rallying against a political leadership in Kabul that is perceived to be protected by the Americans.
Mohammed Umer Daudzai, a former interior minister who is now part of one of the larger opposition groups, said the
lack of progress on elections was a symptom of a broader problem: the government’s shrinking political base.
Humayoon Humayoon said that We are giving this government a clear warning:
that if Mr. Noor is not given permission to fly within 12 hours, the consequence will be very bad,
Abdullah Ahmadzai, a former chief electoral officer of the election commission, said votes repeatedly unearthed some of Afghanistan’s deepest social
and political fracture lines, every time requiring heavy-handed Western intervention to find a way out.
