Born in 1942, Hedayat Amin Arsala is a trained economist and experienced politician who became the first finance minister in the Afghan interim administration in 2001. He studied in the United States and worked at the World Bank for 17 years before returning to Afghanistan in 1987.

Arsala has held several high offices in various governments in Afghanistan. He served as a foreign minister from 1992 to 1995. He was also an active participant in the talks that led to the Bonn Agreement of 2001 and in the formation of the Afghan interim administration after the fall of the Taliban.

During his vice presidential tenure, Arsala headed several government committees on administration reforms, civil services, census and economic coordination. He was also a member of the National Security Council and served as acting president several times in the absences of Hamid Karzai.

Later on, Arsala was appointed senior advisor to Hamid Karzai and as the commerce and industry minister. In late 2008, he was appointed chairman of the Government Coordination Committee (GCC) and also served as the co-chair of the Joint Coordination and Monitoring Board.

Arsala is contesting the 2014 presidential elections with Khodaidad and Safia Seddiqi as his first and second vice presidents respectively.

- Research and text by Soonha Abro