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2010 Elections – No comment 1: GMIC Media Advisory

Released on 16 September 2010, under number 245, by the Government Media and Information Center, Office of the Spokesperson of the President “The parliamentary elections will take place two days from now. The government of Afghanistan is doing everything to pave the way for free and successful elections. Four hundred thousand national and international forces […]

17 Sep 2010 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 4: Gardez déjà vu

In 2009, author Thomas Ruttig witnessed the presidential elections – and some of its irregularities – in Gardez, the provincial capital of Paktia in South-Eastern Afghanistan and tried to get a remote-view idea about what happened around it. So, it made sense to go here for the parliamentary elections, too, to check see what has […]

17 Sep 2010 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 3: Two totally different worlds

As the country gets ready for the elections, the discussions – as usual – focus on security and fraud. There seem to be two worlds. One is the world of procedures, barcodes, scanners and tamper-evident bags. Of recruitment criteria, complaints forms, female searchers and police contingents. Of confident reassurances that everything is under control. The […]

16 Sep 2010 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

15 September 2010: Matt Waldman’s USIP Peace Brief Out (with AAN input)

Field research indicates that the coalition’s military surge is intensifying the conflict, and compounding enmity and mistrust between the Afghan conflict’s parties, concludes Matt Waldman in his Peace Brief titled “Navigating Negotiations in Afghanistan” and authored for the US Institute of Peace. It is therefore reducing the prospects of negotiations, which require confidence-building measures that should […]

15 Sep 2010 AAN • admin • Events

Who Controls the Vote? Afghanistan’s Evolving Elections

AAN’s latest report, by Martine van Bijlert, provides the first in-depth analysis of the 2009 provincial council elections and presents important clues on what the parliamentary vote on 18 September will look like. It argues that, contrary to what some internationals hope, the upcoming vote will again be messy, fiercely contested and manipulated at all […]

15 Sep 2010 Martine van Bijlert • Special Reports

14 September 2010: new report by Martine van Bijlert ‘The Battle for Afghanistan: Zabul and Uruzgan’

The New America Foundation released a new study on 14 September 2010 by AAN’s Martine van Bijlert: ‘The Battle for Afghanistan: Zabul and Uruzgan’. The paper, which is part of a series, explores the origins and evolution of the Taleban networks in these provinces and is based on several hundred interviews over the course of […]

14 Sep 2010 AAN • admin • Events

2010 Elections 2: Political Parties at the Fringes Again

Only five of Afghanistan’s 110 political parties have finally had the chance to field candidates in the upcoming parliamentary election under their party logo. Another 31 parties had candidates on a preliminary candidates’ list but later withdrew the party affiliation. Many political scientists would say parties are a key requirement for a functioning democracy, yet […]

13 Sep 2010 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

2010 Elections 1: Facts and Figures

With less than a week left before 18 September, we would like to summarize the major facts and figures that relate to the upcoming parliamentary election. The total number of candidates standing in this year’s election is 2502. The number of candidates whose names appeared on the 34 final provincial candidates list (plus one for […]

13 Sep 2010 Fabrizio Foschini • Political Landscape

Losing people in Afghanistan

Living in Afghanistan means losing people. It’s a steady trickle. Usually not close enough to uproot your life, but there are all these people whom you have gotten to know over the years, whom you have become fond of, who you have to admire for how they managed to preserve sanity and dignity and humour, […]

11 Sep 2010 Martine van Bijlert • War and Peace

11 September 2010 – New AAN Report ‘Who Controls the Vote? Afghanistan’s Evolving Elections’

A new report by AAN takes a close look at last year’s provincial council vote, in order to better understand how the upcoming parliamentary elections will probably proceed. You can download the report here. Also released on 10 September 2010: ‘Afghanistan’s 2010 Parliamentary Election: Missed Chances for Electoral Reform and Political Manoeuvering Will Weaken the New […]

10 Sep 2010 AAN • admin • Events