Afghan Coalition Government Urged by U.S. in Vote Dispute

Afghanistan’s contending presidential candidates should form a coalition government to avoid splintering the country amid their election result dispute, a top U.S. diplomat overseeing the region said.

“A winner-take-all system in Afghanistan is not a workable” option, Ambassador James Dobbins, the U.S. special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said yesterday at an event organized by the Asia Society in Washington. “A government of national unity that includes all elements is, we think, a necessity for a successful government.”