Dr Ashraf Ghani with Dr Abdullah Abdullah (Photo: Reuters)
Nearly six months of wrangling and two rounds of Presidential polls in Afghanistan have finally culminated in the signing of a national unity government deal between the two rivals: Dr Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah.
Dr Ghani will be Afghanistan's next President and a newly created post will go to the camp of his rival Dr Abdullah.
The two most important empty seats have been filled after a nearly six-month-long bitter battle for Afghanistan's Presidential post.
Dr Ghani will replace Hamid Karzai as Afghanistan's next President. His rival Mr Abdullah won the first round by double digit percentage points, but the result was reversed in the second round. Dr Abdullah's camp gets the newly created Chief Executive Officer's or CEO's post.
Though the CEO's post is being compared to that of a Prime Minister, that will not officially be the case till a Loya Jirga is called within two years and the constitution is changed.
The President is expected to chair the Cabinet and the CEO is expected to chair the Council of Ministers. Both will nominate heads of crucial ministries and of the National Security Council.
The two leaders had been stuck in a bitter battle over alleged fraud in the elections, but they were pushed by President Hamid Karzai and United States Secretary of State John Kerry -- over the last few months -- to seal this deal.
One of the new President's first crucial tasks will be to sign an agreement that will allow several thousand foreign troops to remain after the withdrawal of coalition combat troops by the end of this year.
But an even more crucial task will be holding the country together despite what many see as competing power centres. And the country's people are praying that this sealed deal turns out to be a step forward in Afghanistan's long road to democracy.