After a prolonged electoral stalemate, presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai finally signed the National Unity Government agreement at the Presidential Palace on Sunday noon.
President Hamid Karzai, prominent political figures and members of both electoral teams were present at the ceremony.
Speaking at the event, President Karzai congratulated the candidates on signing the agreement, calling it an "Afghan agreement."
"We hope that you [the candidates] can continue the things that the current government started," Karzai said. “As a resident of Afghanistan, I am ready to cooperate with the national unity government."
The electoral deadlock was initially broken early August with the mediation of the U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. Later, disagreements reemerged over the roles of the president and the chief executive. Now that the candidates have signed the agreement, questions regarding the structure of the future government have been raised.
A member of Ghani's team, Faizullah Zaki, explains the structure of the future government as following.
“The chief executive position will be created under presidential decree on inauguration day and after the provincial district elections. After two years, the chief executive will become the executive prime minister. The chief executive will lead the ministers’ council and the President will lead the cabinet,” he said, adding, that “the cabinet will decide the major policies and strategies and budget and will meet once a month. But the ministers’ council will meet weekly and implement the cabinet's decisions. The two deputies of the chief executive will be members of the cabinet and the National Security Council.”
After six months of waiting, many people welcome the agreement and express hope that the economic and security issues will begin to improve.
“We are happy to go back to our normal life and work routine,” a resident of eastern Nangarhar, Rohullah, said.
Helmand resident, Mohammad Omar, added to the sentiment.
"Every resident of the country was impatiently waiting for the candidates to reach a deal."
Both Ghani and Abdullah's electoral teams had accused each other of fraud following the elections, leading to an electoral deadlock and months of indecision which resulted in severe economic and security issues in the country.