http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/22/world/asia/afghan-presidential-election.html 2014-09-21 11:27:10 Deal on Power-Sharing Government Is Signed in Afghanistan The American-brokered agreement would make Ashraf Ghani president, and the runner-up, Abdullah Abdullah, effectively a prime minister. === KABUL, Afghanistan — The two candidates for president of Afghanistan on Sunday signed an American-brokered agreement on a power-sharing government that would make Ashraf Ghani president, while the runner-up, Abdullah Abdullah, would effectively become a prime minister with substantial powers of his own. The signing ceremony began only a quarter-hour after the scheduled time and was attended by the two candidates and their top supporters, as well as the incumbent president, Hamid Karzai. Mr. Ghani and Mr. Abdullah signed their two copies of the agreement and then hugged each other, to light applause from the audience. The agreement provides for Mr. Ghani, who was expected to be declared the winner of the most votes in the discredited election, to be president, and Mr. Abdullah, as the runner-up, to take a new post called chief executive officer. The post has substantial powers over the cabinet and a new body, called a council of ministers, while not removing the presidential powers outlined in the country’s Constitution. The protracted, three-month-long negotiations between the two candidates, with heavy input from the American government, nearly collapsed last week when Mr. Abdullah insisted that the actual vote totals not be publicly released. It was not immediately clear when Mr. Ghani would be inaugurated as president and the new government formed. It was also not clear whether the country’s Independent Election Commission would release the final vote tally, now that its 100 percent audit of the vote is complete, but it did not do so two hours before the signing ceremony, as it had previously announced it would. Officials said the results would be released later, but did not specify when. After a drawn-out election process that began in February, encompassing a first vote and then a runoff, followed by months of audits, the ceremony was stunningly brief, lasting less than 15 minutes. Mr. Karzai briefly thanked everyone for attending. “On behalf of you and the Afghan nation, I would like to thank both candidates for reaching this agreement,” Mr. Karzai said. “My vice presidents and I are ready to give them our advice.”