Search results

Afghanistan Elections Conundrum (21): Biometric verification likely to spawn host of new problems

Tomorrow’s parliamentary vote will use biometric voter verification machines, the first time ever in an Afghan election. The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has said the use of these machines in every polling station will boost transparency and deter fraud. Yet questions abound. The decision was made at the last minute and because of political pressure. […]

19 Oct 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Elections Conundrum (20): Women candidates going against the grain

On 20 October, more than 400 female candidates will compete for the 68 parliamentary seats reserved for women. Many more women – there are over three million registered female voters – will cast their votes on Saturday, in an attempt to have their say on who represents them in the lower house of the parliament. […]

19 Oct 2018 Jelena Bjelica • Rohullah Sorush • Political Landscape

The Killing of Razeq: Removing the Taleban’s strongest foe in Kandahar, an indirect hit at elections

An attack in Kandahar city has left the province’s governor, NDS chief and police commander, the unrivalled strongman of southern Afghanistan, General Abdul Razeq, dead. The commander of United States and NATO forces, General Scott Austin Miller who had just been meeting the three, was unharmed. The attack mimics earlier assassinations of officials and strongmen. […]

19 Oct 2018 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (19): A young ‘wave of change’ for the Wolesi Jirga?

Afghanistan’s parliamentary election campaign ended on Wednesday 17 October 2018 with the killing of Helmand candidate Jabbar Qahraman by a mine explosion in his campaign office – the fifth candidate killed during the campaign period. “Taghir” – change – has been a key word in many of the campaigns and a hope expressed by many […]

18 Oct 2018 Thomas Ruttig • AAN Team • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Elections Conundrum (18): A lively election campaign amid growing insecurity in Herat

There is a vibrant electoral atmosphere in Herat city and nearby district centres. Rival political forces have brought supporters onto the streets to show their power and candidates have opened campaign headquarters and engaged in a range of heated campaign activities. In the midst of the bustle, there are also concerns over a series of […]

15 Oct 2018 S Reza Kazemi • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Elections Conundrum (17): Voters disenfranchised in Faryab

Almost two-thirds of voters in Faryab will not be able to vote in the 20 October parliamentary elections after insecurity prevented them from registering. Since voter registration ended in early July, the government has seen an even further loss of control and more than a dozen additional polling centres have since closed. AAN’s Ali Yawar […]

12 Oct 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (16): Basic facts about the parliamentary elections

Afghanistan’s Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) has posted a clock on its home page that counts down the time remaining until the 20 October parliamentary election (minus Ghazni province). That’s a nice gag. It would also have been good if a counter had been provided to show, for example, the total number of registered voters (on its […]

9 Oct 2018 AAN Team • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (15): A contested disqualification of candidates

The campaign by more than 2,600 candidates to secure votes in the Afghan parliamentary elections is in full swing, for over a week now. 35 would-be MPs, however, are not running. They have been barred from standing by the Electoral Complaints Commission, chiefly for ties to illegal armed groups. In this piece, AAN’s Ali Yawar […]

7 Oct 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape

New Commissioners for the AIHRC: 390 applications for nine positions

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), set up in 2002 as part of the Bonn Agreement, is to get a new set of commissioners. How to choose them has proved difficult. Before, the president just appointed whom he wanted. Now, a new procedure aimed at greater transparency has ended up being slow and clumsy. The […]

1 Oct 2018 Ehsan Qaane • Rights and Freedoms

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (14): District council and Ghazni parliamentary elections quietly dropped

It has emerged that, without any announcement or formal decision taken, district council elections and Wolesi Jirga elections in Ghazni will not be taking place as planned on 20 October. A special committee of senior government officials had been tasked in early August to rule on an IEC proposal to delay both elections. It has […]

26 Sep 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape