Sources close to the two presidential candidates have indicated that an agreement between the two men is expected to be finalized on Saturday, assuming closing talks on Friday go well.
Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai met with President Hamid Karzai, Jihadi leaders and the heads of the branches of government on Friday. The Jihadi leaders included Sibghatullah Mojaddedi and Abdul Rab Rassoul Sayyaf, among others. And the top government officials were Abdul Rauf Ibrahimi, the Chairman of Parliament, and Abdul Salam Azimi, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. Both campaign teams have said that negotiations will continue through Friday night.
Pressure on the candidates has mounted in recent weeks as the Independent Election Commission (IEC) has finished its vote audit and is poised to announce the final results. The United Nations, the U.S. and others have tried to help mediate talks between the two campaigns, but have had halting success.
Friday could be the breakthrough that was needed in order to put to rest the remaining points of dispute between the candidates. “Fortunately, in talks conducted after the meeting, both candidates reached a final agreement over the majority of the disputed points,” Ghani spokesman Faizullah Zaki said.
But the one issue that is still said to be disagreed upon is the announcement of election results. “We don’t accept the election results, the auditing process was not conducted in a transparent manner, because of this, it is important that the candidates reach a political agreement on this matter,” Abdullah spokesman Syed Aqa Fazel Sancharaki said.
According to sources inside the two camps, if the candidates are able to wrap-up their talks tonight, they will sign the agreement into effect on Saturday.