Publication

This brief examines the challenges and successes of the 2014 presidential elections in Afghanistan. The challenges include problems with voter lists and the National Election Commission, and President Karzai’s attempts to influence the election. The successes include the high voter turnout, low levels of Taliban violence, and the build-up of greater confidence in the Afghan political system and armed forces. The author also outlines the conditions that will determine this election’s contribution to overcoming the main divides in Afghan society (ethnicity, religion and the urban-rural gap).