Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Ashraf Ghani

Ashraf Ghani

Afghanistan’s 2019 Elections (27): The preliminary result, finally, but no end to controversy

Ali Yawar Adili •

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has finally announced the preliminary results of the 28 September presidential election. The announcement came on 22 December, almost three months after the vote and more than two months after the results announcement had been envisaged in the electoral calendar. In these preliminary results, President Ashraf Ghani has crossed the […]

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Afghanistan’s 2019 Election (10): What to watch out for on election day

Ali Yawar Adili • Jelena Bjelica • Martine van Bijlert • Thomas Ruttig •

Past Afghan elections have frequently been bewildering and surreal, even for those following the politics of the country for a long time. With this in mind, and taking into account the recent measures adopted to try to stave off a repeat of the chaos, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, Martine van Bijlert, Ali Yawar Adili and Jelena […]

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Afghanistan’s 2019 elections (2): Who is running to become the next president?

Ali Yawar Adili •

The Independent Election Commission has published the preliminary list of the 2019 presidential candidates. The list includes 18 candidates. It should now go through a vetting process and a challenge and appeal period before it is finalised and published on 26 March, according to the electoral calendar. AAN’s researcher, Ali Yawar Adili, looks at the […]

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Getting to the Steering Wheel: President Ghani’s new set of peace proposals

Thomas Ruttig •

President Ashraf Ghani updated peace plan, presented at the Geneva Conference on Afghanistan on 28 November, the 13th international Afghanistan conference since 2001, built on the February 2018 Kabul Process proposals. Ghani foresees a five-phase approach to consultations and five years of implementation. At the same time, these proposals represent an attempt to reassert the Afghan government’s […]

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The signing of the National Unity Government political agreement by Dr Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani took place at the Presidential Palace on 21 September 2014 in the presence of Afghanistan's key political figures, government officials and members of the campaign teams of both candidates. (Photo Source: Tolo News 2014)

When The Political Agreement Runs Out: On the future of Afghanistan’s National Unity Government

Martine van Bijlert • Ali Yawar Adili •

The National Unity Government (NUG), which was created to solve the impasse caused by the bitterly disputed 2014 presidential elections, has come under intense criticism for a wide range of real and perceived failures. Its position has also been called into question by uncertainty over whether, based on the text of the political agreement, its […]

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The large Zabul Seven protests in Kabul, 11 November 2015. Photo: Pajhwok.

The ‘Zabul Seven’ Protests: Who speaks for the victims?

Martine van Bijlert •

On 11 November 2015, Kabul witnessed probably one of the largest demonstrations in recent history. The trigger was the slaughter of seven Hazara travellers who had been taken hostage in Zabul province about a month ago. The demonstration, which continued well into the night, became an amalgam of emotions and agendas: grief and horror over […]

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Dr Abdullah and Dr Ghani signing their first bilateral agreement on 8 August 2014.

The President’s CEO Decree: Managing rather than executive powers (now with full translation of the document)

Thomas Ruttig •

It is one of the central documents of the new national unity government, but it has not received much public attention: the presidential decree that lays out the “responsibilities and authorities” of the new Chief Executive Officer and was already issued in December 2014. AAN’s co-director Thomas Ruttig has read the document (find an AAN […]

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Elections 2014 (48): Key documents underwriting the electoral audit

Martine van Bijlert •

While the Abdullah team has already dismissed both the audit and its outcome, the IEC still needs to finalise the process to arrive at a new result. As a background to the audit and its tumultuous history, AAN has gathered a number of key documents in one place. These include the three main IEC decisions […]

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Elections (34): The tug-of-war over the Hazara vote, round II

Qayoom Suroush •

How did the large Afghan Hazara minority – that surprised everyone in the first round with its nearly unanimous backing for Dr Abdullah – vote in the second round of the presidential elections? Partial results from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) are not yet available, but in one of the key provinces for Hazaras, Bamyan, […]

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Elections 2014 (33): ‘Amarkhel Gate’ – sheep, tape, resignation

Kate Clark •

The resignation of the head of the secretariat of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), Zia ul-Haq Amarkhel, may just have saved the election – if it brings Dr Abdullah back into the process. In support of his demand (one of several) for Amarkhel to go, Abdullah had ceased cooperating with the IEC and his supporters […]

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Elections 2014 (32): A second round surge in turnout in Loya Paktia?

Kate Clark • Pakteen Ibrahimi •

The three provinces of Loya Paktia – Paktia, Khost and Paktika – have seen some of the worst fraud in Afghanistan’s previous elections, particularly the mass proxy use of women’s ballots, so it was understandable that reports of a high turnout in the second round there would be met with suspicion. However, those on the […]

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Elections (31): Afghanistan’s confusing election maths

Thomas Ruttig •

Only hours after polling centres had closed on the evening of the second round of voting in the Afghan presidential election, the country’s Independent Election Commission (IEC) was already giving the first turnout figures. They were high. Some media broadcast them without question; other outlets were more sceptical, citing anecdotal evidence suggesting turnout might actually […]

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