Written by Nihal Singh Dhingra, a grade 9 student.

Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai is the President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. Born in May 1949, Ghani was elected as President in September 2014 and retained his position even after the 2019 elections, albeit sharing it with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, his arch-rival.

Who is Abdullah Abdullah?

Aged 59 years, belonging to the National Coalition of Afghanistan, Abdullah was the Chief Executive Officer from September 2014 until March 2020.

Recently, in early May 2020, Ghani and Abdullah signed a deal to share power. While Ghani remains President, Abdullah’s political party appoints half of the cabinet ministers and he will also handle the peace negotiations with the Taliban. This was indeed a “historic day” for Afghanistan, as Ghani states.

But the important question is why did this deal even take place?

In February 2020, after 5 months of delayed results, Ghani declared himself the winner of the September 2019 presidential elections. Abdullah disputed this and accused Afghanistan’s election commission of favouring President Ghani.

The reason behind him being elected twice was that he had shown signs of success. He has minimized corruption in government offices and had secured a good relationship with NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation).

Now, President Ghani carries the load on his shoulders to rebuild a country that is torn by long drawn wars. He should, precariously and cautiously walk the rope, and balance his relationship with Dr. Abdullah Abdullah.

Written by Nihal Singh Dhingra, a grade 9 student.

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