Kabul: The Independent Election Commission (IEC) granted a certificate to incumbent Ashraf Ghani who was declared the winner of last September’s presidential elections. The announcement has sparked strong reactions from Ghani’s rivals, many of whom have already rejected the election results as a “fraud.”

“We have come to unite our country, we will work for unity”, Ghani said during the ceremony, Tolo News reported.

Ghani paid homage to what he described as the strong will of the Afghan people for making the elections.

“I also salute the brave women of Afghanistan who made up 31% of the turnout in the elections,” he said.

On the peace process, Ghani said: “After four decades, a window has opened for peace, but peace requires firmness and determination and unity—the entire people of Afghanistan want peace, success in peace means success for the Afghan people.”

Ghani claimed a policy of non-interference: “As I showed in my first term as president, I still believe in the freedom of the institutions--electoral institutions and others involved in the election process.”