KABUL - A hoped-for meeting between President Ashraf Ghani and his CEO Abdullah Abdullah was supposed to take place on Friday but was postponed, the CEO's office said on Saturday.
The meeting would have been the second one-on-one between the two leaders in their bid to iron out differences that emerged over the past 10 days.
The CEO's office said the meeting had been postponed because of the Independence Day holiday.
"Our international partners are concerned about the situation. The Chief Executive has spoken with them. We are worried about Brussels Summit, which will start soon and that would have a negative impact on the current situation. We raised our voice not to disrupt the situation, but because we want reforms", said Mujib Rahman, spokesman for the CEO.
Meanwhile, the head of the commission monitoring the implementation of the National Unity Government agreement insists on the implementation of the agreement. He has said that tensions arose between the two leaders after Ghani appointed staff in key positions without consulting with his CEO.
Mohammad Natqi, head of the commission said: "Only the implementation of the political agreement can solve this problem."
In the meantime, a number of people close to the president have reportedly said that the disagreements between the president and the CEO are not that big an issue.
"The problem is not serious. There are just two issues, one is (the holding of a) Loya Jirga and the other is reforms which is not the president's problem. It is due to security threats", said Gul Pacha Majedi, an MP.
The implementation of the political agreement, the running of government, equal treatment of president and chief executive officer, the involvement of their views in foreign and internal policies, bringing electoral reforms, equal division of authorities, the financial and administration authorities of the CEO, Abdullah's involvement in taking big decisions within a national framework, the authorities of some of the president's advisors, and appointing new staff are all issues of concern reportedly presented by Abdullah to Ghani at their meeting last week.(Tolonews)