Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Martine van Bijlert

2010 Elections 31: Who will fix the election?

Martine van Bijlert •

The ECC has forwarded the names of 413 candidates to the Attorney General’s Office, while the Attorney General’s Office has initiated investigations into both electoral bodies. As the various branches of government argue over how the process should have been done and who is to blame for the flaws, it is becoming increasingly clear that […]

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2010 Elections 30: Loose ends and entanglements

Martine van Bijlert •

As the basic data is still being released and clarified (or not), the IEC has found itself confronted with a series of awkward loose ends. This is being complicated by the rising pressure from candidates, the palace and, more recently, the Attorney General’s Office, as an increasing number of actors is being dragged into the […]

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2010 Elections 28: Sacrifing the vote for a semblance of control

Martine van Bijlert •

Most international supporters had reached an early conclusion that whatever happened in the field, the IEC in Kabul did their job well – guarding the process and maintaining a level of independence and transparency. Candidates and voters strongly disagree and are venting suspicions of manipulation and foul play up to the highest level. The results […]

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2010 Elections 27: And finally… the preliminary results

Martine van Bijlert •

The 2010 preliminary results were announced on 20 October 2010, but as usual information, as well as an understanding of what that information means, is trickling in rather slowly. So far we have a series of figures provided by the IEC, but no answers on why they don’t match or add up; and an internet […]

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Are Talks with the Taleban Snow-Balling?

Martine van Bijlert •

There has been a lot of excitement lately in the press about the supposedly snow-balling talks with the Taleban leadership and what this could mean for the prospects to end the war. The major news outlets have been trying to outdo each other in terms of talking up details provided by spokespeople and unnamed officials. […]

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Enclaves of Optimism

Martine van Bijlert •

In the midst of years of downhill trends and mounting complexities and a growing realisation of how intertwined we have all become in Afghanistan’s main problems, you can still find enclaves of optimism – at military headquarters, diplomatic gatherings, UN leadership levels. They are inhabited by people with a stubborn, but seemingly authentic belief that […]

International Engagement Read more

2010 Elections 26: The IEC between pressure and scrutiny

Martine van Bijlert •

The email was sent around today, not long before the planned press conference and not long after an earlier message had announced a delay. “Dear All: The IEC is intent to be more precise in announcement of WJ Elections results, therefore kindly be informed that IEC press conference for announcement of WJ preliminary results [is] […]

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The Battle for Afghanistan: Zabul and Uruzgan

Martine van Bijlert •

Martine van Bijlert, New America Foundation, September/October 2010 The paper by AAN’s Martine van Bijlert is part of a NAF series on Conflict and Militancy. It explores and compares the origin and evolution of the Taleban networks in Uruzgan and Zabul. The study is based on several hundred interviews by the author over the course […]

External publications Read more

2010 Elections 20: What if the Hazaras win in Uruzgan? (updated)

Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s parliamentary election, as is by now well-known, is seriously pulled out of balance by fraud, insecurity and an unusual variation of the Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV), an electoral system that is prone to erratic outcomes. This has been played out rather illustratively in Uruzgan, where a small and secure corner of the province may […]

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2010 Elections 19: Two cases of electoral violence

Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s elections have been surrounded by a swirl of politicking and tricking, of wrangling and pressuring, of outcry and resignation, of threats and promises, and of outbursts of violence. They show how old habits die hard and how new prospects of power inspire violent behaviour – as Jawed Kohestani, the leader of the Freedom and […]

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Warlords’ Peace Council

Martine van Bijlert •

After a series of announcements that the members of the High Peace Council would soon be announced, and a considerable delay reportedly about who should chair the council – a question that is still open – the names of 68 members were finally released today (with apparently two more still to be added). Looking at […]

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2010 Election 16: Will women win both Nimruz seats?

Martine van Bijlert •

It is interesting to see how candidates narrow down the local parliamentary elections to a competition between a limited number of rivals. The women in many provinces have their own competition, vying mainly for the seats reserved for female candidates. Their complaints thus tend to focus on their immediate female rivals, disregarding the fraud that […]

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