Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Parliament

Parliament

Picture shows candidate ministers sitting in Parliament.

Afghanistan (almost) has a cabinet: MPs confirm all candidate ministers

Kate Clark •

Members of parliament have endorsed all sixteen candidates put forward by Afghanistan’s national unity government. This means that, six months into its term, the country has an almost complete cabinet – only the defence minister is still missing. This is the MPs’ second such vote. The first, on 28 January 2015, saw only a third […]

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Finally Towards a Complete Afghan Cabinet? The next 16 minister nominees and their bios (amended)

AAN Team •

Six months after the inauguration of the National Unity Government and two months after the last attempt to introduce cabinet members to the parliament, there is now a new list of nominees. It contains 16 names for almost all remaining cabinet positions. AAN’s Christine Roehrs, Qayoom Suroush, Naheed Esar, Ehsan Qaane and Obaid Ali have gathered […]

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Electoral Reform, or rather: Who will control Afghanistan’s next election?

Martine van Bijlert •

President Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah, in the September 2014 agreement, agreed to electoral reforms “to ensure that future elections are credible.” The details of these reforms, when they should take place and who should design them are, however, proving contentious. Meanwhile, parliament has been working on relevant laws, while commissioners of the Independent […]

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Picture show the full proposed cabinet seated in Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga hall.

The Cabinet and the Parliament: Afghanistan’s government in trouble before it is formed

Kate Clark •

President Ashraf Ghani has introduced his cabinet to the parliament, which now has to confirm or reject his candidates. But by the time the list was officially presented to the MPs on Tuesday, 20 January 2015, he had already lost three prospective ministers and the position of several others was looking shaky. The choices of […]

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Civil Society's symbolic cabinet. Photo courtesy of Khaama.

104 Days Without a Government – and Counting: The national mood sours

Kate Clark • Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

More than three months after President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abdullah Abdullah were inaugurated, they have still not formed a government. That continuing lack of a cabinet has meant public confidence and patience – which, at the time of the inauguration, ran high – are now wearing thin. A civil society […]

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A sea of green cards of approval in the Wolesi Jirga. Photo: ToloNews

Wolesi Jirga Resolutely in Favour of NATO Support: BSA and SOFA take next hurdle

Thomas Ruttig • Wazhma Samandary •

The Wolesi Jirga today (23 November 2014) approved the long-delayed bilateral security agreement (BSA) with the United States and the Status of Force Agreement (SOFA) with NATO. Although the Afghan Senate’s approval is still pending, this vote opens the door for the start of the ISAF-successor Mission Resolute Support. AAN senior analyst Thomas Ruttig and […]

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Anti-Graft Legislation Stalled by Afghanistan’s ‘Economic Mafia’

AAN •

RFE/RL, 3 June 2014 This article quotes several Afghan MPs, experts and academia about why it took the Afghan parliament almost ten years to finally discuss a law against money laundering – because there are personal and high-ranking economic interests at stake.

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Chancen und Illusionen: Afghanistan-Anhörung mit gemischter Zwischenbilanz zu zwölf Jahren ISAF-Einsatz

Thomas Ruttig •

Das Parlament, 7 April 2014 The German weekly with specialisation on parliamentary affairs, reports about a public Afghanistan hearing in the Bundestag’s Foreign Affairs Committee, in which AAN’s Thomas Ruttig was one of the penalists.

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“Die Schwelle zur Gewalt ist niedrig”

admin •

Qantara.de, 18 March 2014 The blog of German international broadcaster Deutsche Welle publishes a long interview (in German) with AAN's Thomas Ruttig, covering elections, the role of parliament, the judiciary, the warlords and the Taleban and social developments over the past 12 years.

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A Lost Opportunity? Hindus and Sikhs do not get a reserved seat in parliament

Fabrizio Foschini •

On 14 December 2013, the Wolesi Jirga (WJ), the lower house of the Afghan parliament, rejected the presidential decree adding a reserved seat among its ranks for the Hindu and Sikh minorities. The debate showed a divided house, but the vote rewarded those pitted against this facilitation for the tiny minority. However, the tone and arguments used […]

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Daudzai In – and Out: Pre-election cabinet reshuffles

Thomas Ruttig •

Within two days, President Hamed Karzai has changed two of his key cabinet posts: Muhammad Omar Daudzai was appointed acting interior minister on 1 September 2013, one day after Rahmatullah Nabil became acting head of the Afghan intelligence service. AAN’s Senior Analyst Thomas Ruttig looks at the implications and predicts that, with the registration of […]

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Afghanistan’s New Electoral Laws: Changes and red flags

Martine van Bijlert •

With last week’s ratification of the two electoral laws, Afghanistan finally knows which laws will govern its upcoming election. The new legislation clarifies how the elections are to be conducted, by whom and how they are to be appointed. Compared to the often tumultuous process that shaped them, the laws are fairly balanced and workable, […]

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