Could rivalry between Afghanistan’s leaders derail peace efforts?
Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah were both inaugurated as president on Monday.
Many were hailing a new beginning for Afghanistan less than two weeks ago, after the United States and the Afghan Taliban signed a deal towards ending two decades of war.
The Afghan government was not part of the talks.
Now, a long-standing political rivalry is complicating things further.
President Ashraf Ghani and former Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah both say they won the presidential election in September.
And both held presidential inauguration ceremonies on Monday.
Ghani is supposed to finalise the government’s team for the first direct negotiations with the Taliban.
At the same time, the US has started withdrawing troops, despite more questions being raised about the Taliban deal.
Can Ghani and Abdullah settle their differences?
Presenter: James Bays
Guests:
Shafiq Hamdam – Former adviser to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani
Zainab Homam – Chief executive officer, Afghan Action aid group