Zalmai Rassoul, third leading candidate in the preliminary round of Afghan presidential polls, has endorsed frontrunner Abdullah Abdullah.
During a press conference on Sunday, Rassoul said he joined hands with Abdullah because of similarities in their commitments to the people.
“We joined Abdullah to further strengthen national unity. We have a good working background and can move forward together,” he said.
Rassoul expressed his gratitude to Abdullah and his team for their support.
“I am grateful to Abdullah for approving our platforms,” Rassoul said, adding, “We are determined to fulfill our promises.”
At the end of his speech, Rassoul called on to the people of Afghanistan to vote for Abdullah.
“Vote for Abdullah for the sake of national unification,” he said.
Rassoul said that a majority of his colleagues supported the union, while a few decided otherwise because of “personal motives.”
Accepting Rassoul’s alliance, Abdullah said, “Today, we are a single team. We are committed to working honestly and sincerely to fulfil our commitments to the people.”
Abdullah now has the support of Rassoul, who stood third in the preliminary round with 11.5 percent votes equaling 759,540 votes and Gul Agha Sherzai, who received 106,673 votes equaling 1.6 percent percent of the total votes.
Abdullah reaffirmed that the coalition with Rassoul was brought together because of similarities in their platforms.
“Our platforms were similar to Rassoul, which is what brought us together,” Abdullah announced. “We want equality among the people of Afghanistan. The next government will be monitored by the people.”
Abdullah and Rassoul touched base on ethnicity, emphasising that ethnic division must be prohibited for a unified and stable Afghanistan.
Rassoul’s running mate Ahmad Zia Massoud and key supporter Qayum Karzai were not present at the event.
Meanwhile, a group of Hezb e Islami figures, including Qazi Mohammad Amin and Wahidullah Sabawon-who had originally endorsed Rassoul in the first round-announced their support for Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai in the second round.
