A number of Vice Presidential candidates on Wednesday said that there is a high possibility that the Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) will be signed soon, citing assurances President Hamid Karzai gave them that it would be finalized before the April vote.
That said, the candidates emphasized a security pact with Washington would be their topmost priority if Karzai did not sign the pact before stepping down.
Syed Hussain Alimi Balkhi, the Vice Presidential running mate to Gul Agha Sherzai, said that the agreement was important to Afghanistan and expressed confidence that it would be signed soon.
"The security agreement will be signed whatever the delay may be, because considering the current circumstances, the country needs to forge agreements with its international partners and the U.S.," he said.
The BSA was approved by a Loya Jirga in Kabul back in November, but President Hamid Karzai has said he will not sign the accord until the U.S. meets a set of new preconditions, including advancing the Taliban peace process and ending unilateral operations involving Afghan homes.
Washington has put pressure on Karzai to sign the deal as soon as possible, looking to settle the logistics of the residual U.S. troop presence that the agreement would ensure stayed in Afghanistan after the NATO combat mission ends in December. U.S. officials have set a number of deadlines, kicking the can down the road each time Karzai fails to meet them.
However, the White House has indicated that if the agreement is not signed soon, the possibility of all foreign troops withdrawing by the end of the year, as well as financial aid being halted, is significantly more likely.
"With consideration of our national interests and protection of all achievements and on the basis of the Loya Jirga, we will do the job the people have demanded," Vice Presidential candidate to Sardar Mohammad Nadir Naeem, Taj Mohammad Akbar, added.
The Vice Presidential candidates said Karzai had given reason for them to be optimistic in recent conversations about the BSA.
Meanwhile, a number of MPs have said that the future of the security agreement should be cleared up before they go on winter holiday. More than 30 MPs have signed a petition demanded an end to the ongoing deadlock.