Dr. Abdullah Abdullah is a popular and political leader in Afghanistan, one of the closest friends of the national hero of the country, martyr Ahmad Shah Massoud, an eye doctor, a resistance fighter, a former foreign minister, a presidential candidate, a former executive director and a former head of the High Council for National Reconciliation.

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In 1992, Dr. Abdullah served as the spokesman for the Ministry of Defense of the Islamic State of Afghanistan. In 1996, he was appointed as the deputy foreign minister of the Islamic State of Afghanistan, which was recognized by the United Nations and the international community as the legitimate government of Afghanistan. At the time of the Taliban's occupation of Kabul in 1998, Dr. Abdullah served as the foreign minister of the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Then, on December 22, 2001, during the historic intra-Afghan talks in Bonn, Germany, and the formation of the interim government, he was elected as the foreign minister.

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In June 2002, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah was reconfirmed as the foreign minister of the Islamic Transitional State of Afghanistan in the Loya Jirga (the grand council that elected the new transitional government of Afghanistan). Dr. Abdullah then served as the foreign minister of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan from 2001 to 2006.

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During his tenure as foreign minister, Dr. Abdullah was able to establish a solid and successful foundation for an effective foreign policy in Afghanistan and defend the position of the Afghan government at the international level and play a vital and extensive role in strengthening Afghanistan's foreign relations with the international community.

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In 2006, after leaving the post of foreign minister, Dr. Abdullah began his activities as the secretary-general of the Martyr Ahmad Shah Massoud Foundation, the national hero of Afghanistan.

With the aim of bringing change and hope to the people of Afghanistan, Dr. Abdullah registered as a candidate for the presidential election of Afghanistan in 2009. He ran a very admirable and dynamic presidential campaign under the slogan "Hope and Change" and presented a national agenda for carrying out the necessary reforms and changing the political system of Afghanistan from a presidential to a parliamentary system.

The unofficial and invalid results of the presidential election of Afghanistan were announced on September 16, 2009, which showed that Dr. Abdullah was in second place out of the total votes. A second round of elections between President Hamid Karzai and Dr. Abdullah was called after the Electoral Complaints Commission completed a rigorous investigation and dismissed a large number of suspicious votes, with a majority of votes in favor of President Hamid Karzai.
On November 1, 2009, he announced that he would not participate in the second round of the presidential election, due to concerns about the ability of the Independent Election Commission to ensure transparency and credibility of the second round of polls.

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After the end of the electoral process, Dr. Abdullah expanded his political activities in the form of opposition to the government and formed the (National Coalition of Afghanistan). This new coalition was the only democratic opposition to the Hamid Karzai government. In this context, he was actively involved in the political process and cooperated with other political figures across the country to carry out constructive reforms to strengthen governance in government institutions and reform the political system of Afghanistan.

In October 2014, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah announced his candidacy for the third presidential election in Afghanistan's history, which was held on April 5, 2014. The result of the vote count showed that he was significantly ahead of all the candidates and won 44.65 percent of the votes across the country. Based on the decision of the Independent Election Commission, a second round of voting was held on June 14, 2014. But the second round of polls faced significant technical problems that led to a political agreement between the two top candidates. This agreement led to the formation of the National Unity Government with Dr. Mohammad Ashraf Ghani as the president and Dr. Abdullah as the executive director of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan.

 

Dr. Abdullah earned the respect and admiration of the world leaders and his people as a moderate and democratic voice. He has been constantly working for peace and reconstruction in Afghanistan and implementing a comprehensive reform agenda to achieve a peaceful, stable, democratic and prosperous Afghanistan.
He has dedicated his entire life to serving the people of Afghanistan and promoting the interests of democracy, human rights and national unity. He has also been a strong supporter of dialogue and reconciliation with the Taliban and other stakeholders in the region and beyond.

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Dr. Abdullah believes that the only priority of the country is to restore the trust of the people of Afghanistan who have been waiting for a long time for an effective government that can improve the situation in Afghanistan. Dr. Abdullah is married and has three daughters and a son. He is fluent in Dari, Pashto and English and is proficient in Arabic and French.

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Dr. Abdullah believes that the only way to achieve lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan is through an inclusive and representative political system that respects the rights and aspirations of all Afghans regardless of their ethnicity, religion, gender or background. He also believes that the future of Afghanistan depends on its relations with its neighbors and the international community, which must be based on mutual respect, cooperation and common interests.

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