Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Presidential election

Presidential election

An IEC registration officer registers a voter at Naderia High School in Kabul as the IEC launched a 22-day top up voter registration across the country on 8 June. Photo: IEC Facebook page, 8 June 2018

Afghanistan’s 2019 elections (6): Presidential campaign kicks off amid uncertainty

Ali Yawar Adili •

The campaign to become Afghanistan’s new president will be launched later today. As 18 candidates approach the starting line, AAN researcher Ali Yawar Adili looks at lingering doubts that the election will actually happen, at the rules on campaigning, and the divisions and splits in the various political parties that have taken place in the […]

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On 20 May, the Council of Presidential Candidates called a press conference and warned that if President Ghani did not step down on 22 May, crisis and instability would befall the country. The Council has proposed a caretaker government to lead elections, reconciliation process and transfer of power to the next elected president. Photo: General Murad Ali Murad’s Facebook Page

A Snapshot of the Week: Has Ghani consolidated his extended presidential term?

Ali Yawar Adili • Jelena Bjelica •

Kabul has been on heightened security alert, as the presidential term of President Ashraf Ghani approached its constitutional end on 1 Jawza (22 May 2019). The authorities responded to calls by the political opposition for Ghani to step down in favour of a caretaker government and threats that protestors would take to the streets by […]

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President Ashraf Ghani administering the swearing-in of Chief Executive Abdullah and his deputies on 29 September 2014. Photo: 29 September 2014, Palace Facebook page

Afghanistan’s 2019 Elections (4): What will happen when the presidential tenure runs out on 22 May?

Ali Yawar Adili •

The Supreme Court has ruled that President Muhammad Ashraf Ghani and his vice-presidents shall continue to serve until the election of a new president. This ruling comes in the wake of mounting pressure by a number of presidential candidates and their political backers, who have called on the government leaders to step down after 22 […]

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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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The IEC members appear in a public meeting on 20 January to announce the final results of the October 2018 parliamentary elections for nine provinces. After more than three months, the IEC is still struggling to wrap up the results of last year’s elections, while it now needs to get ready to prepare for the presidential election, and three other votes, on 20 July 2019. Photo: IEC website

Afghanistan’s 2019 elections (1): The countdown to the presidential election has kicked off

Ali Yawar Adili •

Afghanistan has just concluded its candidate nomination period for the presidential election, which has been moved from the initial date, 20 April, to 20 July 2019. The election will now involve four votes at the same time: provincial elections, district council elections, parliamentary elections in Ghazni province, and the presidential poll. With this, the country […]

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Walls, trees and pylons in Maimana are all papered with candidates’ posters ahead of the upcoming elections. Candidates are having to concentrate on the provincial capital given that insecurity is making it difficult or impossible to get to other the districts. Photo: Ali Yawar Adili, October 2018

Afghanistan Elections Conundrum (17): Voters disenfranchised in Faryab

Ali Yawar Adili •

Almost two-thirds of voters in Faryab will not be able to vote in the 20 October parliamentary elections after insecurity prevented them from registering. Since voter registration ended in early July, the government has seen an even further loss of control and more than a dozen additional polling centres have since closed. AAN’s Ali Yawar […]

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Elections 2014 (45): Solving audit problems by creating new ones

Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s drawn-out election continues to keep a very large number of people very busy. And although there has been progress – both on the political and the technical side – this has mainly been achieved by delaying or isolating key discussion points and contentious decisions. The audit has finally started speeding up, but only after […]

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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 (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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Elections 2014 (30): Some initial reflections on E-Day II

Thomas Ruttig •

The counting of second round votes from the presidential elections is still under way in much of Afghanistan, although results are now trickling in from some polling stations. Meanwhile, everyone is trying to assess how well the second round went: the impact of security incidents, level of fraud and, especially importantly, how big the turnout […]

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What to Watch in the Elections (3): Polling day, fraud and irregularities

Martine van Bijlert •

Elections in Afghanistan can be overwhelming, surreal and utterly confusing, even for those who have followed the politics of the country for a long time. To bring those who were not here during previous elections up to speed, and to remind those who may have forgotten the details of what it was like, AAN’s Martine […]

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Re-plugging: The final list of presidential and vice-presidential candidates

Thomas Ruttig •

After some queries on social media and a check of several websites, including that of the Afghan Independent Election Commission,(1) there seems to be a lack of the complete final list of all tickets for the 5 April 2014 presidential election, particularly of the 11 contenders’ vice-presidential candidates. As a reference document, AAN’s co-director Thomas […]

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