Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani says he'll 'never accept division of power'

Incumbent Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has said that he is against any division of power in the Islamic Republic and added that he would never accept an executive branch headed by his long-term rival, Abdullah Abdullah.

"I will never be ready to accept the executive [branch in its current form]. We need only one team [government headed by the president] in the leadership. I accept the National Unity Government because national unity can happen, but it did not. Time [was] wasted and we did not reach the goal because in one government there were two voices," Ghani said.

He stressed that under the Afghan constitution, "a single team will be in power."

"I made promises based on a single government, but we saw that accountability was also being politicized and obstacles to the executive branch," he said.

The National Unity Government was established after the disputed 2014 Presidential Election - both Ghani and his opponent, Abdullah Abdullah, had claimed victory.

After months of stalled negotiations, an extra-constitutional post was created specifically for Abdullah, who now is the Chief Executive Officer of Afghanistan within the government.

Abdullah is currently one of the leading candidates for Saturday's presidential election.