It’s Finally Official: Ghani Reelected To Second Term As Afghan President

Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) says final official results from the country’s September 28 presidential election show incumbent President Ashraf Ghani has been reelected to a second five-year term with 50.64 percent of the vote.

Afghan Chief Executive Officer Abdullah Abdullah took second place with 39.52 percent of the vote, the IEC announced at a press conference in Kabul on February 18.

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, one of Afghanistan’s most notorious former warlords, finished in a distant third with 3.85 percent of the vote.

The election was mired by record low turnout and bickering between Ghani and Abdullah during the campaign.

The official turnout was 1.8 million votes out of about 9 million eligible voters.

The final official results were delayed by months while election officials launched a ballot recount — including recounts in provinces where Abdullah’s supporters had stopped the process for almost a month.

By winning more than 50 percent of the vote, Ghani has avoided a second-round runoff.

Widespread allegations of fraud in Afghanistan’s 2014 presidential election led to a political crisis between the top candidates, Ghani and Abdullah. That crisis was resolved by a U.S.-brokered power-sharing agreement that created a fragile national unity government.

Under that deal, Ghani became president while a new office — called chief executive officer — was created for Abdullah.