An insight into wavering stance of so-called Emperor of Balkh amid controversial elections

Monitoring Desk

KABUL: Ata Mohammad Noor, one of the most prominent leaders of Jamiat-e Islami, who was once considered as the emperor of Balkh province, welcomed the re-election of Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as the President of Afghanistan.

Endorsing the turnout of the voters in elections, which was apparently far low than expected, Noor said in his statement that the people of Afghanistan had the right to know the final results.

Noor welcomed the final results which the Independent Election Commission announced late on Wednesday, calling it an important step towards Democracy as he congratulated the suffering people of Afghanistan and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani regarding the final outcome of the elections.

He also expressed hopes that the formation of the new government would lead to the improvement of the political and economic situation of the country and the formation of a national consensus and unity in a bid to achieve victory in the peace process with the Taliban group.

In other parts of his statement, Noor urged the Stability and Convergence team led by Abdullah to refrain from sparking a crisis and use his energy in the way of achieving peace and stability in the country.

Noor Predicted no ‘runoff’ and no existence of Chief Executive Office:

A day after Presidential elections were held, Noor claimed in a statement that the presidential elections would not go into the second round (runoff elections).

Without disclosing further information regarding his claim, Noor further added that the office of Chief Executive won’t exist, emphasizing that those mulling to create crisis, reject election results and drag the people to streets, should forget the idea as the people and the country do not have the tolerance for a crisis at a ‘critical point’.

Noor’s Failed political standoff with Ghani:

The statement by Noor followed more than one-half years after a political standoff between him and Mohammad Ashraf Ghani.

President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani ousted Noor from the office (Governor of Balkh) late in December 2017, following a failed attempt by him (Noor) to reach a deal with Ghani, apparently on the share of power.

The ARG Presidential Palace had then issued a decree confirming that Noor has resigned and that his resignation has been accepted by the President.

However, Noor dismissed the decree, emphasizing that he had not resigned and had no intention to step down from his post as the governor of Balkh.

Later on, Noor claimed that he entered into negotiations with the government, representing the strong stance of the Jamiat-e-Islami and not as an ordinary governor who represented the Balkh province.

He went on to claim that the Jamiat party was the main pillar of the unity government and no one could sideline him as an ordinary government employee, insisting that he would continue to his work as the governor of the Balkh province in a bid to prevent the spread of the Taliban and ISIS in Balkh

In other parts of his speech, Noor harshly criticized the Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and called him a ‘snake up in own sleeve’ and accused him of conspiring against the party which helped him reach power.

Noor’s submission to Ghani and a contradictory statement regarding ‘rigged’ elections:

Noor informed regarding a breakthrough to end the stalemate with Ghani’s administration on the 21st of March 2018, admitting that he had reached certain agreements during the talks with the government.

He gave up the Balkh administration but later on joined the Coalition for the Salvation of Afghanistan and proposed a transitional government.

However, Noor proposed the formation of a transitional government later on as he expressed concerns regarding the rigging in upcoming (2019 presidential) elections.

Speaking during a press conference earlier in July 2018, in Mazari Sharif city of Bakh, Noor warned regarding the dire consequences if the elections were rigged, warning that the country would be dragged into chaos if the elections were not acceptable to the people of Afghanistan.

Afghan Presidential Election Turnout:

According to IEC, Mohammad Ashraf Ghani secured 50.64% of votes while Abdullah Abdullah and GulbuddinHekmatyar received 39.53% and 3.85% of the votes respectively.

The total turnout for Afghanistan’s 2019 presidential election was 1,823,948 which makes less than 5% of Afghanistan’s population if the whole population is assumed 40 million. Ghani won the election securing less than 2.5% of the nation’s votes.(Khaama Press)