Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Reports

Reports – previously known as dispatches – are the flagship of the AAN website and our main type of publication. AAN reports are based on extensive desk and field research and provide timely and in-depth information and analysis.

AAN Election Blog 35: The fog of an election result

Martine van Bijlert •

Since the results of the ECC investigation have become roughly and widely known (47-48% for Karzai) the “process” has disintegrated into a large number of scattered negotiations and confidential meetings of which the status is unclear. So everybody is phoning each other, swapping the fragments of what they have been told by so and so […]

Political Landscape Read more

AAN Election Blog 34: Rumours of a Run-off

Martine van Bijlert •

The Afghan electoral process has gone into yet another phase. The audit results were passed onto the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) a week ago. They have been endlessly mulling on how to calculate the number of polling stations that are to be annulled and are expected to hand over their conclusions to the Independent Electoral […]

Political Landscape Read more

What the preliminary results tell us (3): Logar, Baghlan and Uruzgan

Martine van Bijlert •

Another brief overview of what you can find when going through the preliminary election results in which a few simple calculations illustrate how far some people will go, acquiring thousands of votes often in very limited localities. No wonder voters feel their vote no longer counts. So let’s take a brief look at some results […]

Political Landscape Read more

What the preliminary results tell us (2): Nimruz provincial council

Martine van Bijlert •

The study of the provincial council results was initially prompted by a series of phone calls from Nimruz by unsuccessful candidates and upset voters. Their complaints focused on a handful of candidates who had provisionally won the provincial elections and who were considered unsuited for the task – a big smuggler, a person with no […]

Political Landscape Read more

AAN Election Blog 33: So what do we do with the audit?

Martine van Bijlert •

The audit has come to an end. So now… proportion… sample… fraudulent… calculate… disqualify… certify… And then we will have a result. And I am sorry for everybody who is feeling almost relieved, but I really need to say this: Can we please stop pretending that “the process” will give us “a result”. That we […]

Political Landscape Read more

What the preliminary results tell us (1): Kabul provincial council

Martine van Bijlert •

With (international) attention focused firmly on the complexities surrounding the Presidential vote, the struggle for a fair outcome in the provincial council elections continues. The competition was more localised and the level of organisation of the fraud more limited than in the Presidential elections, but the margins needed to win were also much smaller. Many […]

Political Landscape Read more

AAN Guest Blog: Anti-fraud measures in the Afghan elections

ARGO •

The procedures to cope with the electoral fraud in Afghanistan become more and more complicated, as is the relationship between the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). The following guest blog authored by our partners from ARGO in Italy bring light into the affair. In the Afghan electoral field two bodies […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

AAN Election Blog No. 32: We have a new universe – and an old problem

Martine van Bijlert •

The saga of the Afghan election vote count and recount is nearing its conclusion, although even the concluding phase may still drag on for quite a while. The process (oops*) has become so technically complicated and politically multilayered that voters, candidates, donors and observers have lost track of what is happening and how worried they […]

Political Landscape Read more

What possibly still could be done…

Thomas Ruttig •

…. after the ‘Friends of Afghanistan’ anti-democratic ‘consensus’ The leaked ‘consensus’ of the ‘Friends of Afghanistan’, i.e. the foreign ministers of the most influential Western governments, that President Karzai has won the 20 August elections, is the final knock-out for the remaining democratic aspirations of Afghans. Although it has not been stated officially yet, there […]

Context and Culture Read more

BREAKING NEWS: Ban Fires Galbraith

Thomas Ruttig •

Watch the UN website tonight: The UN Security Council has decided to fire Peter W. Galbraith, the American deputy head of its Afghanistan mission UNAMA. An announcement by Secretary-General Ban Ki Moon on this step is expected to be published tonight (GMT). The reason to be given: serious differences of opinion with UNAMA boss Kai […]

International Engagement Read more

Francesc Vendrell’s Perspectives On Resolving The Postelection Crisis

Francesc Vendrell •

AAN Advisory Board member and former UN and EU personal/special representative to Afghanistan FRANCESC VENDRELL was interviewed by Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty Spanish former diplomat Francesc Vendrell won Afghan friends and praise for his wise demeanor during his service as a special envoy for Afghanistan for the United Nations (2000-02) and later the […]

International Engagement Read more

AAN Election Blog No 32: What Next in Afghanistan? (1)

Thomas Ruttig •

What remained of a democratic process in Afghanistan had been brought to a halt with screeching brakes by the massive and systematic fraud on 20 August. Finally, this fact has been recognised on the record by impartial bodies like the EU observers and the ECC. Realities simply could not be ignored any more. The range […]

Political Landscape Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up