Kerry hails landmark Afghan power switch

Secretary of State John Kerry is congratulating the nation of Afghanistan ahead of its historic change in power on Monday.

In a Washington Post op-ed on Saturday, Kerry cheered the millions of Afghan voters and hailed the agreement made by the country’s two presidential candidates

He claimed that “perhaps Washington could take a lesson from Kabul.”

{mosads}”The moment belongs also to Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, two statesmen who put their country’s interests first and came together to form a government of national unity following a very contentious election,” he wrote. 

Ghani won the election after a long and drawn out process that included a June runoff and a recount to counter allegations of fraud on both sides. He will be just the second president since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, and Monday will mark the country’s first peaceful transition of power in four decades.

In a power-sharing deal brokered by Kerry, Abdullah will become the nation’s chief executive, a new position created to deal with the tense situation.

Kerry compared the historic nature of the agreement to recent U.S. history, which is not without its own presidential standoffs.

“And for those at home who are quick to question Afghanistan’s democracy, they might ask themselves whether they believe that — in less than 90 days — two U.S. presidential candidates could transform a bitter and hotly contested campaign into a unity government with an exceptionally strong mandate to govern. (Flipping the pages of our own history back to the 2000 election, the answer might provoke some humility or at least some perspective on how difficult it can be),” he wrote.  

“No, the process wasn’t simple. Yes, there were many high-wire moments when it seemed just as likely that Afghanistan’s political future could lurch in dangerous directions,” he added.

“But in the end, statesmanship and compromise triumphed.”