Afghanistan's President Ashraf Ghani appeared to have won a second term as per the preliminary election result.
What is the procedure?
President Ashraf Ghani has won 50.64% of the votes counted.
If ratified, this will obviate the need for a second round of polling.
A second round, after a gap, would prolong the uncertainty around the polls.
Notably, even these results took more than three months to announce.
A prolonged election process will do little to end political instability in Afghanistan.
What is the significance?
The current elections are the fourth Presidential poll since the Taliban’s fall in 2001.
It consolidates the country’s democratic process in the face of odds, including continuing violence and terrorism there.
It is a great success that these polls were held, having been delayed for months.
It was almost cancelled after progress in reconciliation talks with Taliban leaders, who do not recognise the electoral process.
The U.S.’s decision to cancel the talks, which is now resumed, gave the necessary breather for the polls and counting to be carried out.
What are the concerns?
Voter turnout was a record low, with only about a quarter of 9.6 million registered voters voting.
Thousands of votes were also disqualified after biometric match failures and other irregularities, setting off allegations of voter fraud.
As a result, Afghanistan’s former Chief Executive Officer and Mr. Ghani’s chief rival, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, has rejected the preliminary results.
Mr. Ghani’s vote margin over Mr. Abdullah is only around 2,14,000.
If more votes are disqualified during the review process, then they may have to fight the second round.
This will possibly be more divisive for Afghanistan.
[Mr. Ghani, a Pashtun leader, has drawn much of his support from the Pashtun-majority south.
On the other hand, Mr. Abdullah has won mainly in the Northern areas with Tajik presence.]
The U.S.-Taliban talks also cast a shadow over whether the results will be respected if the Taliban negotiates its way into a power-sharing arrangement in Kabul.
How have nations reacted to this?
Indian PM Modi congratulated Mr Ghani for winning the elections.
He reaffirmed India’s close and strategic partnership with Afghanistan since 2010.
The move came in sharp contrast to the rest of world that has chosen to be more cautious at present.
The U.S. Ambassador has reminded all that “many steps remain” before the final results are certified and declared.
The UN has also called for all candidates to “safeguard and complete the election”.
It will be in everyone’s interests if the remaining steps of the electoral process are completed at the earliest, and democracy is reaffirmed in Afghanistan.
