Acting Foreign Minister Mohammad Haneef Atmar, who took his new office on Sunday, called on Afghan political leaders to end their rift, referring to the tensions between President Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah, which has remained unsolved despite national and international efforts.

Atmar said it is the time to prioritize the national interests, adding “the election is over for us.”

He said that based on the law, the decision of the election commissions – which announced Ghani as the winner of last year’s presidential elections – should be accepted.

“It is the time to respect the law, whether we like the (election) results or not and (we should) prioritize the national interests under the current critical situation,” Atmar said.

Abdullah Abdullah, Ghani’s political rival, has refused to accept the election results and has claimed authority in a parallel government.

Atmar said Afghanistan faces four types of crisis: war, lack of regional consensus, the coronavirus crisis and the longstanding rift on election results.

“It is the time to end the tensions and come together for the sake of unity and the people’s rights and move towards intra-Afghan negotiations,” he added.

He warned that if the situation continues, the country will become unstable.

“The (political) rift can only be solved through the law,” Atmar reiterated.

He mentioned that he has joined the government to support the peace process.

“The situation of our country and the region has changed. We want peace and to maintain the government. There isn’t consensus in the region in this respect. It has created a new challenge for diplomacy in our country. We should create consensus in the region,” Atmar said.

“Peace in Afghanistan is in favor of everyone and the continuance of war damages everyone,” Atmar said, adding that lack of consensus in the region is due to improper understanding of Afghanistan's situation.

This comes as Afghan political leaders including former president Hamid Karzai and former mujahideen leader Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf called on Ghani and Abdullah to end their dispute and allow time for further negotiations before more political moves.

The two sides accepted the call from the Afghan leaders.