Afghan power struggle seen delaying formation of new government

(Reuters) - Weeks after a new Afghan president was sworn in, a tussle for power means it could be weeks - if not months - before a cabinet is in place, the last thing his government needs as it gears for foreign troops to leave after 13 years of war.

President Ashraf Ghani took office in September after a bitter row with rival Abdullah Abdullah, who initially claimed victory in the presidential election but later agreed to form a unity government.

As part of a U.S.-backed deal, the two agreed to work together, with former foreign minister Abdullah as chief executive, but several weeks on there is still no agreement on the make-up of the government.

Ghani is aiming to assemble a functioning government before a British-sponsored conference in London in early December, where he will seek to convince donors to continue bankrollingAfghanistan with billions of dollars in aid.  But he appears increasingly unlikely to meet that deadline.

Aides to both teams say there is a tussle over 26 positions, with no agreement on who leads the army and police, who heads the intelligence agency and who controls the country's finances.
"It is impossible for the whole cabinet to be set up before the London conference because of the contradicting views between both camps," said Ahmad Sayedi, a Kabul-based analyst. "We expect the new cabinet to be in place by the spring next year."

The deadlock is a worry for Afghanistan's foreign backers who spent more than a decade encouraging democratic governance while U.S.-led troops battled the Taliban.

Ghani, seeking to strike a balance in a country long divided along ethnic lines, wants to be seen as a new leader who can honor a pledge to appoint officials based on merit.

But at the same time, he cannot risk making dramatic changes that could upset a fragile balance of interests holding the government together.   Read More