2019 Afghan presidential election
 | This article documents a current election. Information may change rapidly as the election progresses until official results have been published. Initial news reports may be unreliable, and the last updates to this article may not reflect the most current information. |
 | |||
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
 |
|---|
 Afghanistan portal |
Presidential elections were held in Afghanistan on 28 September 2019.[1]
Background
The elections were originally scheduled for 20 April, but the Independent Election Commission announced on 26 December 2018 that they would be postponed until 20 July,[2][3] in order to resolve problems that became apparent during the October 2018 parliamentary elections. The additional time will be used to verify voter lists and train election workers on the new biometric identification system. On 20 March 2019, the IEC once again delayed the election, this time by two months from 20 July to 28 September. A spokesman blamed the delay on changes in election laws along with management and technical problems − the presidential vote will now coincide with local council votes and delayed parliamentary elections in Ghazni Province.[4]
Electoral system
The President of Afghanistan is elected using the two-round system; if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in the first round, a second round will be held featuring the top two candidates.
Campaign
One of the leading candidates, Mohammad Hanif Atmar, suspended his campaign in August 2019. Atmar's campaign said that the suspension was due to the poor security situation and the ongoing peace process.[5] The Taliban carried out attacks to disrupt the campaign. On September 17, 2019, a suicide bomber attacked the campaign rally of President Ashraf Ghani, killing 26 people and wounding 42. Less than an hour later, the Taliban carried out another suicide bomb attack near the US Embassy and the Afghan Defense Ministry, killing 22 people and wounded around 38.[6]
Voting
Despite low turnout, voting during election day was described by Reuters as being held in a "relative calm" situation, with only 3 deaths and 37 injuries occurring due to "small-scale" Taliban attacks.[7] Al Jazeera also noted that in spite of the low voter turnout, violence was only "sporadic."[8]
Candidates
There are 18 presidential candidates:[9][10]
| Name | Party affiliation | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ashraf Ghani | Independent | Incumbent President | |
| Abdullah Abdullah | National Coalition of Afghanistan | Incumbent Chief Executive | |
| Gulbuddin Hekmatyar | Hezb-e Islami Gulbuddin | former Prime Minister, former warlord, and current leader of Hezb-e Islami | |
| Rahmatullah Nabil | former Head of the National Directorate of Security | ||
| Noorullah Jalili | |||
| Faramarz Tamanna | former Director General of the Center for Strategic Studies (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) | ||
| Shaida Mohammad Abdali | Ambassador to India | ||
| Ahmad Wali Massoud | |||
| Noor Rahman Liwal | IT expert and businessman[11] | ||
| Mohammad Shohab Hakimi | |||
| Mohammad Hakim Tursun | |||
| Abdul Latif Pedram | Member of the Parliament | ||
| Nur ul-Haq Ulumi | former Minister of Interior | ||
| Mohammad Ibrahim Alokozai | |||
| Enayatullah Hafiz | |||
| Mohammad Hanif Atmar | Truth and Justice | former National Security Adviser and Minister of Interior (campaign suspended) | |
| Zalmai Rassoul | former Minister of Foreign Affairs (campaign suspended, supporting Ashraf Ghani)[12] |
References
- ^ "Heavy security as Afghans elect president". BBC News. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ Afghan presidential election delayed by three months BBC News, 26 December 2018
- ^ Afghan presidential elections postponed until July 20: official Al Jazeera, 30 December 2018
- ^ Najafizada, Eltaf. "Afghanistan Presidential Election Once Again Delayed by Two Months". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
- ^ "A Leading Afghan Presidential Candidate Suspends Campaign". Voice of America. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
- ^ "Dozens killed by Taliban suicide bombings in Afghanistan". The Oxford Times. Retrieved 17 September 2019.
- ^ Sediqi, Abdul Qadir; Jain, Rupam (28 September 2019). "Afghan presidential vote held in relative calm, but turnout low". Reuters. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ "Afghanistan presidential election: All the latest updates". Al Jazeera. 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
- ^ Ali Yawar Adili (11 February 2019). "Afghanistan's 2019 elections (2): Who is running to become the next president?". Afghanistan Analysts Network. Retrieved 20 August 2019.
- ^ Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan. "1398 Presidential Election Candidate List" (PDF). IEC AF. Retrieved 3 September 2019.
- ^ "Noor Rahman Liwal's Official Website". Official Website.
- ^ Ali Yawar Adili; Thomas Ruttig (16 September 2019). "Afghanistan's 2019 Election (7): Dithering over peace amid a lacklustre campaign". Afghanistan Analysts Network. Retrieved 19 September 2019.
