Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: June 2014

Afghan Election: Doubts Cast On High Turnout

AAN •

RFE/RL, 15 June 2014 Frud Bezhan takes a look on turnout reports and quotes (and links) to Thomas Ruttig’s AAN dispatch: “Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent think tank in Kabul, also noted reports of both greater and lower numbers of women compared to the first round.”

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Elections 2014 (30): Some initial reflections on E-Day II

Thomas Ruttig •

The counting of second round votes from the presidential elections is still under way in much of Afghanistan, although results are now trickling in from some polling stations. Meanwhile, everyone is trying to assess how well the second round went: the impact of security incidents, level of fraud and, especially importantly, how big the turnout […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

What made CIA resume drone attacks [in Pakistan]?

AAN •

The News, 14 June 2014 The Pakistani daily’s analyst Amir Mir thinks the six-months break of US drone strikes in Pakistan (now ended) has been caused by warnings by the Afghan Taleban that such strikes could kill Bowe Bergdahl. Now, after the prisoner swap, this reason does not exist anymore. He adds that one of the […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Elections 2014 (29): The second round election day in snapshots from the provinces

AAN Team •

How did the second round election day go? After our collection of voices from the provinces on the day before the vote (read here) as well as on the first round election day (see here), we continued to listen to our Afghan friends, analysts and acquaintances across the country. We asked them if they had been as eager to vote as […]

Political Landscape Read more

Afghans bank future on the next president

AAN •

al-Jazeera, 14 June 2014 In this article discussing Afghanistan’s post-election economic outlook, AAN’s Martine van Bijlert is quoted: “The withdrawal of the NATO forces will have an obvious impact on the Afghan economy,” according to Martine van Bijlert, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based research organisation. “What complicates the picture is that nobody really knows […]

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Afghans vote in final round of presidential elections

AAN •

Stars and Stripes, 14 June 2014 Both candidates have already complained bitterly about unfair treatment and bias by the country’s main election bodies, which will decide which votes to count and which to reject.Pushing those arguments too far in the post-election period, though, could weaken the next government, said Kate Clark, analyst with the Kabul-based […]

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Präsidenten-Stichwahl in Afghanistan

AAN •

ORF (Austrian radio), 14 June 2014 Audio of a short interview in the context of the upcoming elections with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (in German; you need to scroll down on the website).

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Elections (28): Last minute procedural changes to pacify candidate complaints

Martine van Bijlert •

In the run-up to the second round vote, the Independent Election Commission (IEC), has made some changes to how it will run the vote this time. This has mainly been in response to complaints and pressure from the two remaining candidates. The IEC has increased the number of polling stations, has fired several thousand of […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (27): Snapshots from the provinces before the second round vote

AAN Team •

How do Afghans feel about the second round of the presidential election ahead tomorrow, Saturday, 14 June? How do they perceive the security situation, the campaigning of the two contenders, the election authorities’ performance – and are they still as ready to go and cast a vote as many of them were in the first round? Like […]

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On Negotiations…with Terrorists and with Congress

AAN •

Foreign Policy Blogs, 12 June 2014 (Not to confuse with Foreign Policy magazine.) Anothe blogger picking up AAN material (and linking it) on the five Taleban swapped for Sgt Bergdahl: “According to the Afghanistan Analysts Network, some of the public assertions about them may have been exaggerated.”

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Elections 2014 (26): The other possible vice president – Dr Abdullah’s running mate Muhammad Khan

Kate Clark •

Much has been written about Dr Ashraf Ghani’s choice of running mate, General Abdul Rashid Dostum – a ticket characterised as ‘technocrat plus warlord’ – but very little has been heard from or about the other man who might become Afghanistan’s next first vice president, Muhammad Khan. Apart from his being a senior Hezb-e Islami […]

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