Afghan Power-Sharing Deal

• 03 Jul 2020

• Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, and his political rival Abdullah Abdullah have signed a power-sharing agreement, which ended months of political discord triggered by last year’s disputed presidential election.
• According to the deal, Ghani will stay as the president while Abdullah will helm the High Council of National Reconciliation (HCNR) with executive authority and his team will have a 50 per cent share in the cabinet.
• The HCNR has been mandated to lead future peace talks, including with the Taliban.
• Ghani was declared the winner of Afghanistan’s 2019 presidential polls in September by country’s Election Commission, but his challenger, Abdullah, refused to accept the results and proclaimed victory for himself. After months of political uncertainty, Ghani was sworn in as the Afghan president on March 9, but Abdullah also declared himself the president the same day by holding his own oath-taking ceremony.