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New alliance ahead of Afghan poll
http://blogs.rediff.com/mkbhadrakumar/2014/03/18/new-alliance-ahead-of-afghan-poll/New alliance ahead of Afghan poll
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has appointed the former interior minister and speaker of the lower house of parliament Younus Qanooni as vice-president to replace late Mohammad Fahim.(TOLO). It’s a surprise choice, yet a natural choice — and an absolutely shrewd choice, too, which can impact the alignment of political forces on the eve of the presidential elections due on April 5.
Qanooni’s credentials are impeccable. Like Fahim, he is also a ‘Panjshiri’ who used to be close to late Ahmed Shah Massoud. He is a clever politician with rich experience — and a staunch Afghan nationalist who was opposed to the US military intervention in 2001.
Qanooni has been a critic of Karzai in the past, but the latter has overlooked that. By bringing Qanooni into his team, Karzai hopes to strengthen the candidacy of his former foreign minister Zalmai Rassoul, whom he seems to favor.
Rassoul’s ticket already includes another famous Panjshiri, Ahmed Zia Massoud. Clearly, the Tajik support base of rival candidate Abdullah Abdullah gets significantly eroded.
