Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Political Landscape

This thematic category encompasses AAN’s reporting on Afghanistan’s major political events, including elections, the formation of cabinets and other appointments, the key political actors and their trajectories, and the many under-reported political trends.

What about the voters (2)

Martine van Bijlert •

What do people think? Now that a million votes have been disqualified and the second round has been announced. Another collection of conversation fragments. “I am worried that something will go wrong with the elections. Many people are worried. So Karzai’s acceptance of the results is good. He has decided to avoid confrontation. It is […]

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AAN Election Blog 37: The next chapter of the conclusion (2)

Martine van Bijlert •

So Karzai announced. His desire to have a second round, so that the bad taste of the first one could be washed away. His pride over being one of the two candidates running in that second round. His appreciation for the Afghan nation and how they participated in the election. His gratitude to the internationals […]

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AAN Election Blog 36: The next chapter of the conclusion

Martine van Bijlert •

The ECC has released its decisions and in doing so has laid to rest the doubts or speculations that they may bend under pressure to fudge or withhold. A scroll through the well documented findings confirms the widespread reports of fraud and provides a fascinating read of what the elections must have looked like in […]

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What about the voters

Martine van Bijlert •

What about the voters (and the non-voters). Maybe we should listen to them as well. A small collection of random conversation fragments. “Before the election I called the IEC representative in my area and asked him to arrange votes for [the presidential candidate I was supporting]. He asked me to whom in the provincial council […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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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 […]

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