Afghanistan’s Fraught Political Transition and Implications for Its Security Beyond 2014

On Saturday, June 14, Afghanistan held its second round, run-off presidential election since no presidential candidate was able to secure at least 50 percent of the votes in the first-round election on April 5. In that first contest, the two front-runners, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani, won 45 percent and 31.56 percent of the vote, respectively. Both rounds of the election were marred by widespread allegations of fraud, as Afghanistan aimed to complete the first democratic transfer of power in its history.