Ghani concludes with a plea for continued support from the international community:

In December 2001, we saw the beginning of a remarkable partnership between the international community and the Afghan people. Since then, women and men from around the world have served our nation as soldiers, peacekeepers, diplomats, aid workers and election observers. Grateful for this unusual support, Afghans came to the polls en masse to affirm their commitment to a better future. Yet our journey together toward a democratic, secure and prosperous Afghanistan will not be realized overnight. Saturday's election is a historic achievement, but it is only one step forward. We must now recommit to our shared future, for we have all come to understand that whatever road we take in Afghanistan, we will take it together.

Controversy surrounds the recent Afghan vote, of course. Importantly, however, President Hamid Karzai's main challenger Yunus Qanooni has accepted an independent inquiry, proposed by the United Nations and US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, to investigate allegations of incidents of election fraud. "We want the feelings and happiness of the people to be appreciated; we don't want to boycott," Qanooni told the New York Times. "We have proved that the interests of the people are more important than other interests."

That the election dispute between Afghan political parties is being resolved, not by means of armed force, but by political means, is an important sign of progress for that country.