Presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah at his speech in Kabul on Tuesday asked his supporters to remain patient as he decides his next steps ahead of an expected visit by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Friday.
Abdullah shared with the crowd that John Kerry called him prior to the announcement of runoff preliminary results on Monday, informing Abdullah that U.S. envoys will be sent to seek a legal solution to the troubled election process.
The representatives sent by the Secretary of State were U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham and U.S. Special Envoy for Afghanistan James Dobbins, both who tried to dissolve the electoral tensions, but failed to do so.
For now, Abdullah continues to suspect the Independent Election Commission (IEC), President Hamid Karzai and his opponent Ashraf Ghani-Ahmadzai of conspiring together to steal the election.
"The triangle of Ashraf Ghani's camp and the IEC decided to announce the results of the fraudulent elections," Abdullah asserted. "We do not accept it! Karzai, the IEC and Ghani are one camp.”
The preliminary results released on Wednesday heavily favored Abdullah’s opponent, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, and Abdullah said he would reject the results unless all fraud is weeded-out. However, on Tuesday, he asked his supporters to remain patient as he decides his next move.
"We dedicated our lives for national solidarity," he said. "We do not want a crisis in Afghanistan, we want its prosperity."
Abdullah's supporters, gathered in the Loya Jirga tent, responded to his request in unison, chanting “no”, and calling on him to announce his own government on Tuesday.
During the delivery of his speech, Abdullah said he and his camp rejected Monday's announcement of the preliminary runoff results as the genuine and fraudulent votes were not separated.
"I assure the people of Afghanistan that we will not accept the results of fraud," he declared. "From today, we announce that only the government elected through clean votes will come to power."
He made this statement proclaiming that "without a doubt, we are the winners of Afghanistan."
Throughout the delivery of his speech he underlined his firm stance on refusing IEC's announcement.
"I assure the people of Afghanistan that I will sacrifice for you, but I will never accept a fraudulent government," Abdullah affirmed. "I would not trade the whole world for a single vote of yours.”
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released a statement on Tuesday calling on the candidates to respect the process and exercise restraint, not claiming victory prematurely. The statement also urged the election commissions to conduct additional vote auditing for more than 7,000 polling sites, a precaution that it says both candidates have endorsed.
“UNAMA reiterates its call for the candidates to exercise restrain and take all steps necessary to control their supporters to prevent them from making any irresponsible statements and from taking steps that could lead to civil disorder and instability,” the statement read.
Meanwhile, the Presidential Palace on Monday welcomed the announcement of preliminary results with a press release, which also urged both candidates to keep the nation’s interests in mind and to cooperate with the election commissions.