Search results

The 2018 Election Observed (2) in Kandahar: Facing the same problems as the rest of the country

The people of Kandahar cast their vote on 27 October 2018, a week later than the rest of the country. Although no figures have been released, turnout appears to have been good in Kandahar city and Spin Boldak, as was expected, and patchy to nonexistent in most other districts. The IEC had stressed that the […]

3 Nov 2018 Ali Mohammad Sabawoon • Political Landscape

Aftershocks of a Procedural Ambiguity: The IEC and ECC dispute over which votes to validate

When the Independent Election Commission (IEC), at the last minute, introduced the use of biometric machines in the Wolesi Jirga election, it approved a procedure stipulating that the votes cast without the new system would be invalid. But it never decidedly clarified what it would do with the polling stations that failed to use them. Then, […]

2 Nov 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape

Not Everybody’s Hero: The assassinated communist-turned-post-2001-parliamentary candidate Jabbar Qahraman

The assassination of Kandahar’s police chief and strongman of southern Afghanistan Abdul Razeq in Kandahar on 18 October, along with the province’s NDS chief, and more members of the provincial leadership wounded soon overshadowed the killing of parliamentary candidate Abdul Jabbar Qahraman in neighbouring Helmand by a bomb one day earlier. Qahraman means “hero”, a […]

31 Oct 2018 Michael Semple • Political Landscape

The 2018 Election Observed (1) in Zurmat, Paktia: Real voting only in the district centre

Zurmat district in Paktia province is almost completely under Taleban control. The parliamentary elections were held there only on a tiny island of government control. Turnout was very low on the first election day and limited to the district centre – another example of Afghanistan’s emerging rural-urban voting divide. On day two, attempts of ballot stuffing […]

29 Oct 2018 Pakteen Khan • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

The Release of Mullah Baradar: A contribution to the peace effort?

The Taleban have confirmed to various media that Pakistan has released the most senior member of their movement in detention, Mullah Abdul Ghani, better known as Mullah Baradar (brother). He was arrested in 2010 and held ever since, apparently incommunicado and without charge or trial. Baradar was a founding member of the Taleban and a […]

28 Oct 2018 Kate Clark • War and Peace

Before Election Day Three: Looking at Kandahar’s upcoming vote

Tomorrow, on 27 October 2018, Kandahar will vote in the country’s parliamentary election – a week later than the rest of the country. The delay comes after the assassination of, among others, the province’s police chief and strongman Abdul Razeq on 18 October 2018. The IEC has tried to remedy the problems that plagued the […]

26 Oct 2018 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

Election Day Two: A first hand account of the trials and chaos of second-day voting

The parliamentary election that was finally held after a three and half year delay, was meant to end the extra-constitutionality of the legislature and boost the legitimacy of the state. New anti-fraud measures were put in place to ensure transparent elections, but they were poorly prepared and implemented. Now, after two days of voting, the […]

23 Oct 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape

Election Day Two: A triumph of administrative chaos

The second day of the Afghan parliamentary election has been as chaotic as the first. Because many polling centres failed to open or opened late on Saturday, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) ruled that some could also open today. However, only some actually opened today and voters were presented with the same bureaucratic and technical […]

21 Oct 2018 AAN Team • Jelena Bjelica • Political Landscape

Election Day One (Evening Update): Voter determination and technical shambles

In our first update of the day, AAN reported on the mixed turnout – far higher in the cities and other secure places and lower in districts where the Taleban could close roads and prevent voting. Those determined to vote faced not only Taleban violence, but also many technical problems and late-opening polling centres. In […]

21 Oct 2018 AAN Team • Kate Clark • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Election Day One: A rural-urban divide emerging

Afghanistan’s third post-Taleban parliamentary elections have started slowly, with a lot of technical chaos and significant fighting in a number of provinces. Polling hours have now been extended. Even in many areas of Kabul, polling centres had not opened by 9:30am. There are widespread reports of a lack of polling material, electoral staff being unfamiliar […]

20 Oct 2018 AAN Team • Thomas Ruttig • Rights and Freedoms

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