Afghanistan's Election Tipping Point

Afghanistan just concluded its run-off vote to determine its next president and the signs that the country will head towards a comfortable and stable transition of power appear to be diminishing with every passing day. As Srinjoy Bose noted in a detailed observer’s account for The Diplomat, election rigging practices were more prevalent during the run-off vote than during the general provincial and presidential elections in April. Specifically, presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah, who comfortably led the polls in the first round of voting, now rejects the results, alleging that his opponent, Ashraf Ghani, had supporters rigging the election. According to Abdullah, any result announced by the Independent Election Commission will be unacceptable because it would be marred by ”industrial scale fraud.”