KABUL - US ambassador to Afghanistan James B Cunningham on Monday rejected the impression if Washington had imposed the idea of forming a national unity government on the two presidential candidates.

Speaking at a press conference at the US Embassy in Kabul, Cunningham said in response to a question that the formation of a national unity government was not a US plan or idea. “It was not our idea; It was something agreed to by the two candidates following their talks,” he said.

The diplomat said Afghan politicians had been discussing with him and others over the past two years how to unite Afghanistan after the elections.

“I think it’s accurate to say that both Dr. Abdullah and Dr. Ghani in conversations that we had recognised the historic responsibility they have to ensure the establishment of a strong and legitimate government which represents all Afghans, whoever they voted for.”

He said the statement the two candidates issued at the end of their talks spoke for itself.  “They committed themselves to work through the many issues before them, to work to speed up the audit, and to begin a structured conversation between their two camps and themselves on how to create the national unity government they have agreed to form.”

He said they had discussed the ongoing UN-supervised audit and had agreed to abide by the results.

He said the two candidates also agreed that the goal, what Afghans and their international partners wanted, was to try to inaugurate a new president by the end of August.

“There is now a pretty clear path ahead, a pretty clear idea of what needs to be done, and a lot of work and issues that still need to be worked through.”

Cunningham said the task for Abdullah and Ghani was to come to a durable agreement in the coming weeks that will establish the next government and its programme, whichever one of them became president.

“The successful outcome of the audit and the creation of a unity government as a result of the political discussion are essential for the security and development of Afghanistan, and for the strength of Afghanistan’s relationship with its international partners.”

He said they encouraged the two candidates to continue to develop the political dialogue that has actually begun with the preparation of their joint statement.

“To do that it will be necessary to make the transition from political competition to cooperation and to gain the broad support that will be necessary to ensure that the next government of Afghanistan is ready to address the serious problems which face the country.”

He said it was the goal of the candidates to have the new president representing Afghanistan at the NATO summit in early September, a goal, he said, they completely supported.

“This will be a very important opportunity for the new president to reaffirm Afghanistan’s engagement under a new government with many of its international partners and to begin building the path forward that all of us want to see.”

“It’s our hope that all Afghans involved in the political process will realize how important this is for Afghanistan and how important it is to turn the page on the political campaign and to begin to focus on what needs to be done for the future of the country.” (Pajhwok)