Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Chief election rival Abdullah Abdullah, are set to hold separate swearing-in ceremonies as president on Monday, according to officials from both camps.
The move could further widen the face-off between the two and also weaken the government position in intra-Afghan peace talks with the militant Taliban planned for Tuesday in Oslo.
The country’s election commission declared that Ghani was re-elected in polls in September. Abdullah rejected the results and declared his own victory.
According to Ghani’s Deputy Spokesman, Dawa Menapal, the inaugural ceremony will be held on Monday.
Menapal added that internal and external guests have been invited for what he called “a landmark ceremony.”
Abdullah, who claimed to be the winner based on the biometrically verified votes, in an exclusive interview with Tolo News, a local TV network, said that he would also be inaugurated on the same day.
This, he said, if national and international mediations failed.
Abdullah added that on Thursday a delegation from his side has held a meeting with his rival team to resolve the dispute. A source close to Ghani also confirmed the meeting.
“Any solution agreed by both sides is better than having two swearing-in ceremonies,” Abdullah said.
Abdullah’s running mate in the election, Enayatullah Farahmand said that the first meeting brokered by the U.S.
peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad ended without an outcome.
However, both camps scheduled ceremonies for Feb. 27 ahead of the U.S.-Taliban agreement but were postponed.