General Elections in Afghanistan - Possible Portents --- It seems to be the season for general elections. The one in Afghanistan has just concluded; the one in India will take nine days of polling to conclude, while the legislative elections in Indonesia have also been initiated. This blog will therefore focus on the presidential elections in Afghanistan and what it portends for that country, for its neighbors, and for the U.S.-led coalition coming to the end of an exhausting war with the Taliban elements. Both sides have battled each other for over 12 years without either side having won or lost. -- The first noteworthy and heartening feature of the elections to elect a president in Afghanistan is the fact that it passed off relatively peacefully, notwithstanding Taliban threats to disrupt it. Considering that such an exercise has been conducted only twice before, in 2004 and 2009, both times when Hamid Karzai was elected president, the Afghans can rightly revel in this achievement. Also, unless something really untoward happens, the election will be the precursor of a peaceful transfer of power which is a new phenomenon in modern Afghan history which has had its share of coups and assassinations. - More, S. Azmat Hassan - Huffpost, at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/s-azmat-hassan/afghanistan-elections_b_5126996.html?utm_hp_ref=afghanistan