Blogs / Martine van Bijlert
Campaign trail (3): the candidates and their strategies
While half of the world is on holiday and the other half is going through the wiki-leaked documents or is wondering how to follow-up on the successes of the Kabul conference, the electoral campaign in Afghanistan is going ahead – at least in parts of the country. The cities are covered in posters and banners, the newspapers carry campaign ads and the candidates in the provinces are trying to find ways around the limitations posed by security and powerful rivals. Listen to what some of the candidates and voters say, when talking about the elections: read more »
posted: 30-07-2010
Kabul Conference (4): Don't Mention the War
The Kabul Conference has ended, the foreign ministers have left, the roads have reopened for traffic. Most Afghans seem unimpressed. Several of the ‘big speeches’, and probably quite a few of the ‘smaller’ ones, impressed upon the audience that it was actions, not words that would ultimately count. They are of course right and I am sure the Afghan population agrees. But the words at the conference aimed to weave a new narrative which has very little to do with the realities of Afghanistan. Several things stood out starkly: the discussion of plans and policies as if there was no war going on, an optimism that economic development and effective government are within reach, and a level of ambition that was not, in any way, tempered by the realities of implementation. read more »
posted: 24-07-2010
Kabul Conference (1): Outsmarted and made to pay
For weeks I have dismissed the Kabul conference as yet another conference – as something diplomats do, when they don’t know what to do. It was, as usual, preceded by a merry-go-round of pre-meetings and document-drafting-sessions and discrete enquiries (who is coming from your side? are you pledging?), which made it look like simply more of the same. But now I am not so sure; things in Afghanistan are different this time. And the Kabul conference may turn out to be more than just a distraction. read more »
posted: 19-07-2010
The revolt of the good guys in Gizab
A recent Washington Post article recounts how a group of local villagers in Gizab district revolted against the Taliban and kicked them out – with the help from US and Australian Special Forces. It reads as a good news story. read more »
posted: 24-06-2010
Continuing tug of war between the Parliament and Karzai
As the Parliament has entered its fifth(!) week of “silent sessions”, the government is moving towards meeting some of its demands, to some extent – in a typical display of Afghan political ambiguity. A constitutionally-mandated oversight commission has finally been established, but its membership is still incomplete and the controversy over its authorities continues. And some, but not all of the candidate ministers are likely to be introduced to Parliament in the coming days. Martine van Bijlert on Kabul’s continuing game of political ambiguity and tug-of-war. read more »
posted: 20-06-2010
The resignation of Atmar and Saleh; early thoughts
After what is reported to have been a day of rather heated discussions, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and head of the National Directorate of Security Amrullah Saleh have handed in their resignation. President Karzai swiftly accepted and has already appointed their deputies, Munir Mangal and Engineer Ibrahim, as acting heads. read more »
posted: 06-06-2010
PEACE JIRGA BLOG 6: An attack on the jirga, an end to peace?
It was in the middle of a live radio interview, as we were discussing the basics of the peace jirga that had just kicked off, that the interviewer cut in: "It seems the jirga has been attacked. There was an explosion or shooting. Karzai has been taken away, maybe to hospital. It was probably the Taliban, no? So this must mean the end of any prospect for a peace deal." read more »
posted: 02-06-2010
A Ministers retreat, a rowdy crowd and the politics of the thinly veiled threat
A quick visit to Bamyan to see the sights and enjoy its beauty – no politics intended. But in between the magic of the Band-e Amir lakes and the Dragon Valley, the ancient cities of Zuhaak and Gholghola, the awe of waking up to the view of the Buddha silhouettes, the walks through the fields and up the hills – in between all of this, politics was never far away. read more »
posted: 24-05-2010
Counterinsurgency in Kandahar: what happened to the fence?
A short visit to Kandahar, as it has been a while. In the afternoon there is a donkey cart bomb several blocks away. It kills three children, destroys a police post and rattles the office I am visiting. The blast of moving air tells the body something about vulnerability that it had forgotten. In the evening there is a warning that a nearby compound may be attacked: people in the area have been told by unidentified men that it is in their interest to leave. The next morning there is news that the deputy mayor has been shot while doing his prayers, and a phone call of a friend saying: just don’t move around too much today. In the afternoon, as I drive by the sites of earlier bombings – the recent ones still a mangle of rubble, snapped wood and folded pieces of metal – there are more warnings and rumours, and an eerily quiet city. read more »
posted: 22-04-2010
Getting ready for the next election: the IEC pushes ahead
The country is gearing up for the next election. Local notables and the ambitious young are consulting and assessing the support they can muster. The Wolesi Jirga is still protesting the adoption of the new electoral decree, but nobody seems to be listening and the candidate registration process, which starts within a few days, will soon be demanding their attention. read more »
posted: 17-04-2010
Reliable partners
The pendulum has swung again. After a few days of crisis and strained relations the US administration has publicly smoothed over the unease and the anger and has welcomed Karzai back into the ranks of ‘reliable partners’. Letters have been sent, joint appearances made and reassuring statements given. It is difficult to know what is worse, to see the world gang up and push Karzai around for supposedly being the beginning and the end of all Afghanistan’s problems, or to witness the backing down, the overly friendly words, the subjects that must now not be broached. read more »
posted: 14-04-2010
Separating the government, the Taliban and the people (1): Karzai and the confusion in Kabul
Over the last few days Karzai has found it increasingly difficult to stop saying in public all the things that he has been saying in private for months: who do these foreigners think they are, what are they playing at, and do they really think they can push me and my people around forever? Observers have sought to understand what this means in terms of his partnership with the international actors, his state of mind and his outlook for the future. read more »
posted: 07-04-2010
Separating the government, the Taliban and the people (2): Meanwhile in the provinces
Meanwhile in the provinces the lines are blurring even further. This is illustrated by recent instructions from the Quetta shura on how to treat people working for the government or the internationals. read more »
posted: 07-04-2010
The Electoral Law that wasn't amended (yet) and fraud by foreigners
Karzai’s last minute attempt to rewrite the electoral law has been stalled, after Parliament rejected the decree on Wednesday. It has been a bizarre process in which political strong-arming and legal debates have made the outcome unpredictable. This continues to be the case. read more »
posted: 01-04-2010
PEACE JIRGA BLOG 1: How serious is the Peace Jirga?
While the press makes it sound like a deal with Hekmatyar is just around the corner now that a 15-point plan has been presented, and while the Taliban continue to deny their involvement in any kind of talks and continue to adapt to the twin pressures of military operations in Afghanistan and high-level arrests in Pakistan, preparations for the Peace Jirga in Kabul continue. The timing is right, the agenda is relevant and the consultative nature of the gathering is necessary. But as usual with these kinds of high-profile events the question is: how serious is it going to be? read more »
posted: 28-03-2010
Strangers kicking in your door
“Hello, I am calling from Kandahar. I got your number from a friend. One of my employees, a driver, was arrested a month ago. ISAF forces came to my house at night and took three people away. They also almost took me. They are still holding the driver, the ICRC says he is in Bagram. His family is very worried. Is there anything you can do?” - That was yesterday, just as I was reading the paper by Open Society Institute and The Liaison Office on the impact of night raids. That night I dreamt of Special Forces entering houses (until the earthquake woke me). read more »
posted: 28-02-2010
Voices from Zabul
Just got back from a short visit to Zabul, the largely forgotten province that is surrounded by Kandahar, Uruzgan, Ghazni, Paktia and Pakistani Baluchistan. I was curious how things had developed since my last visit three years ago. The governor had been changed – and so had the Taliban governor – some provincial department heads had been moved around, while others seemed stuck to their seats. The Stryker Brigade had come and gone. Some of the elders had been detained at Bagram Airfield, others had been killed. read more »
posted: 27-02-2010
Dreaming of a pliable parliament and a ruling family
President Karzai has changed the electoral law, driven by anger over an in his eyes over-interfering ECC, the desire to have a pliable parliament and a sense that it his right as a president to be in charge. The substantive changes in the electoral law have, as a result, focused on roughly four areas: gaining greater control over the main exclusion mechanisms (the ECC and the DIAG secretariat), minimizing international interference, limiting the grounds for criticising the IEC, and raising the bar for conditions on candidates. read more »
posted: 24-02-2010
Wondering where all of this is going
Back in Kabul, I am struck by the sense underlying most conversations that things are happening above people’s heads, out of their reach and largely unseen. The London conference seems to have confused more than it has clarified and the questions that are always latently present are becoming more pronounced: What are the foreigners doing? What are they planning? What is it good for? read more »
posted: 16-02-2010
Rules and Empty Promises
I have finally arrived in Kabul, after spending several days travelling half the world to get a visa for Afghanistan. My quest started in Dubai, where in the past it had been relatively easy to get multiple entry, multiple months. I had heard about a new system that involved getting a “Mofa number” (i.e. a reference number linked to a Ministry of Foreign Affairs authorisation, in a procedure very similar to the Iranian one) but I still thought I should be able to get an entry visa without too much trouble. read more »
posted: 11-02-2010
London Conference (2): Peace, Reconciliation and Reintegration
The London Conference and the media chatter around it has put the subject of reintegration and negotiations with the Taliban firmly on the agenda. Although both issues had been repeatedly raised by Afghan government and international officials over the last few years, the media and wider public still seemed to be taken by surprise. A closer look at what was said and some of the implications. read more »
posted: 02-02-2010
London Conference (1): Calling for Afghan ownership and Afghan leadership
The London conference has come and gone. World leaders gathered to try to create a sense of momentum and partnership and to persuade sceptical audiences that there is a plan and an end in sight. There were several messages, but the one that was drowned out in the media coverage surrounding on what to do with the Taliban, was the message of Afghan leadership and Afghan ownership. read more »
posted: 01-02-2010
The Cabinet vote: Fourteen in, eleven to go
The Parliament has voted for the second time. Seven out of seventeen ministers were approved this time. We have a Cabinet of fourteen now, still eleven to go (we're still waiting to see who is going to be introduced as Minister of Energy and Water). And though the dust has not settled yet, a few things can already be said about what happened today. read more »
posted: 16-01-2010
So where are we with the 2010 elections?
Despite what logic and reason tell us, all indications are still that the IEC is getting ready for a parliamentary election in May 2010. The date was announced on 2 January, the electoral calendar was presented on 7 January and the government's intention to press ahead was confirmed in a 12 January press release from the presidential palace. This despite the fact that the UN and the main donor nations, still reeling from the traumatic roller-coaster ride of trying to first ignore and then repair a very fraudulent election result, had decided in December that there should be no elections until at least late 2010 or even 2011. read more »
posted: 14-01-2010
Hope has returned to Afghanistan, or so they say.
There is something strange about opinion polls in Afghanistan. They always seem to have been done in a parallel universe, where things are less bleak and people are more confident that all will be well. Ever since the first poll results were published in 2004 there has been this glaring gap between the relatively upbeat polling results and the general mood in the country. read more »
posted: 12-01-2010
Parliament votes off most of Karzai's Cabinet
After over two weeks of listening to presentations by the candidate ministers and being subjected to lobbying and negotiations, the Lower House of Parliament finally voted. And only seven out of twenty-four ministers were passed. read more »
posted: 02-01-2010
Rearranging election outcomes while the IEC archive burns
While people across the world are wrapping their last gifts and doing their last Christmas shopping, Afghanistan still has unfinished election business. And it is clear that we haven’t seen the last of all the bizarre twists and turns. read more »
posted: 24-12-2009
The Cabinet list
For those of you - sitting under the Christmas tree - who have not been able to find the complete Cabinet list yet, please find it below. With some of the most basic facts added. Corrections and additions, as always, welcome. read more »
posted: 24-12-2009
Thoughts and worries
There is a lot to worry about in Afghanistan. The politics of government, cabinet and parliament. The local power play of oppression and violence. The future, the family, where the country is headed. How bad the winter is going to be. Some conversation fragments: read more »
posted: 22-12-2009
The confused fight against corruption
This morning saw the opening of a three-day national conference to identify “best practices and effective measures” in the fight against corruption. There will be workshops attended by government officials and civil society actors from all over the country, but today I only stayed for the opening statements in the grand hall of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. And what was said and not said in those few hours both illustrated and confirmed how difficult dealing with corruption is going to be. read more »
posted: 15-12-2009
Parliament getting ready for the new Cabinet
Several weeks have passed since the President’s inauguration on 19 November and the waiting is now for the announcement of the new Cabinet – an event that as usual has been imminent for quite a while. The Parliament has delayed its recess, which was to begin on 6 December, so that it can vote on the Cabinet as soon as the names are known. read more »
posted: 12-12-2009
Finishing the unfinished election (2): Panjshir and Kapisa
Not all provinces show signs of a very uneven rate of disqualification between the presidential en provincial council elections, like we saw in Helmand Khost or Farah. Take for instance Panjshir. read more »
posted: 11-12-2009
Finishing the unfinished election (1): Helmand, Khost and Farah
As the final provincial council results are being finally and gradually released, an early analysis of the figures shows that the fraud in the provincial council election has, unsurpisingly, been largely left untouched. read more »
posted: 11-12-2009
Small stories from the province (1): A very high-ranking dog
“Did you hear about the Australian dog that was lost?” We had been discussing everything from the latest tribal gossip to the final announcement of the provincial council and the recent local appointments. And now, as we are packing up to go, there was apparently still a story of a dog. read more »
posted: 05-12-2009
MEI paper repost: How to respond to a flawed election
The Middle East Institute released its 'Viewpoints' special edition on Afghanistan yesterday. It contains 53 short essays by leading experts and practicioners on Afghanistan's recent history, including several AAN members. The paper below is a repost of Martine van Bijlert's contribution (without the footnotes). read more »
posted: 03-12-2009
NDS detention - not just a Canadian problem
Former diplomat to Kabul, Richard Colvin, caused quite a stir in Canadian politics with his testimony to a parliamentary committee on the Afghan mission on 18 November 2009. Colvin described how he repeatedly alerted his superiors to the fact that prisoners handed over to the NDS (National Directorate of Security) were likely to face torture and abuse. read more »
posted: 01-12-2009
Corruption, corruption, corruption
Karzai's international backers have made no secret of what their priorities for his new administration were: transfer of security responsibilities, reconciliation, economic development, relations with the neighbours, and corruption, corruption, corruption. They were well served by Karzai’s inaugural speech: everything was included - reason for a (small) collective sigh of relief. Another potential confrontation, with its awkwardness at home, averted. These were the words, now the deeds. But there is something slightly wrong with all these public displays of toughness and the calls on Karzai to clean up his government. read more »
posted: 20-11-2009
Waiting and watching
So I am not in Afghanistan (no, not evacuated - just no reason to come rushing back once the second round was called off). Not part of the local speculation game on who is going to be part of the new cabinet and who will get which positions and based on which deal - although I am being told that it is unusually quiet on the rumour front at the moment. Not in a position to make early pronouncements on the political future of Afghanistan or to report on developments in the deal-making scene. What reaches me from Afghanistan are echoes and fragments. And they are full of doubts and question marks. read more »
posted: 09-11-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 40: The President has been elected
Afghanistan has a new president. After several hours of deliberation on how to respond to Abdullah's pull-out (and after initial statements that Saturday’s second round would go ahead as planned) the IEC announced today that as Karzai had received most votes in the first round and no longer had a competitor in the second, he is now Afghanistan’s elected president. read more »
posted: 02-11-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 38: I think we should be worried now
It is eleven days since President Karzai, flanked by a posse of international envoys and ambassadors, announced the date of the second round of the 2009 elections. Since then the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and UNDP ELECT have pushed ahead with the logistical preparations, releasing election material to the far corners of the country and remobilising electoral staff (although the details on who gets fired and rehired, and why we suddenly only need two staff per station instead of five, remain murky). read more »
posted: 31-10-2009
What about the voters (2)
What do people think? Now that a million votes have been disqualified and the second round has been announced. Another collection of conversation fragments. read more »
posted: 21-10-2009
AAN Election Blog 37: The next chapter of the conclusion (2)
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 for their support in difficult times. read more »
posted: 20-10-2009
AAN Election Blog 36: The next chapter of the conclusion
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 the places where authorities, election officials, local strongmen or independent entrepreneurs conspired to fix the outcome of the vote. read more »
posted: 20-10-2009
What about the voters
What about the voters (and the non-voters). Maybe we should listen to them as well. A small collection of random conversation fragments. read more »
posted: 19-10-2009
AAN Election Blog 35: The fog of an election result
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. read more »
posted: 18-10-2009
AAN Election Blog 34: Rumours of a Run-off
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 Commission (IEC) today or tomorrow. In the meantime the city is buzzing with rumours pointing to the possibility of a second round. What is going on? read more »
posted: 16-10-2009
What the preliminary results tell us (3): Logar, Baghlan and Uruzgan
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 from Logar, Baghlan and Uruzgan. read more »
posted: 16-10-2009
AAN Election Blog 33: So what do we do with the audit?
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: read more »
posted: 10-10-2009
What the preliminary results tell us (2): Nimruz provincial council
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 influence ("he has only three families in the whole province") - and were alleged to have defrauded the local election. read more »
posted: 09-10-2009
What the preliminary results tell us (1): Kabul provincial council
With (international) attention focused firmly on the complexities surrounding the Presidential vote, the struggle for a fair outcome in the provincial council elections continues. read more »
posted: 09-10-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 32: We have a new universe - and an old problem
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 should be. read more »
posted: 06-10-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 31: We have a result – sort of – and some very frayed relations.
Suddenly there it was: the final announcement of the preliminary results of the Afghan Presidential election. The event itself was a bit of an anticlimax, but the announcement means that there is one thing less to wait for, although the wait is by no means over. It means that the focus has shifted and that all eyes are now on the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC). It also means that the problem has shifted: it is no longer fraud, but a system that does not deal with fraud. read more »
posted: 17-09-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 30: Which votes are to be counted - a crucial battle
As the press continued to recount stories from far-flung districts (outraged elders, stuffed ballot boxes, intimidated electoral staff); as the international actors were “allowing the process to run its course”; as the Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) stoically continued to announce its batches of preliminary count results, while releasing more and more “dirty” ballot boxes into the count; and as the Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) was faced with an ever growing number of complaints, on Tuesday 8 September 2009 suddenly all strands came together in what may well become the elections’ most important confrontation. read more »
posted: 08-09-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 27: A mysterious election and a fluid count
Analysing the 2009 Afghan election as they are unfolding is quite a unique experience. An observer from Global Democracy, recently quoted in Kabul Weekly (26 August 2009), aptly called this "a mysterious election" in which "even the number of voters is not known". And mysterious it is. read more »
posted: 31-08-2009
A response to AAN Election Blog No. 23
A reader responds to AAN Election Blog No. 23 (How much are we expected to believe?): "This article was forwarded to me by a friend. I was impressed with this article as it really reflects the concern of an Afghan who stepped out of his/her house with a hope and besides all risks cast his/her vote on 20th August to select the future leader of the country through a democratic process. read more »
posted: 27-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 26: If no one saw it, did it happen? - AAN recommended election reading (UPDATED)
The further you get from where things happened, the easier it is to wonder whether they ever took place at all. And whether the reports (and echoes of reports) and denials (and echoes of denials) are not just a matter of claim, counterclaim and unsubstantiated rumour. Whether the calls of fraud are not just part of the political game of winning and losing. read more »
posted: 29-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 23: How much are we expected to believe?
As journalists are starting to pack up and go home and observers are formulating their conclusions (some irregularities, need to work on the voter registration) it seems that the real contest is yet to start. The network of governors, district governors, police chiefs and local commanders, that was mobilised in the run up to the elections and that had seemed to play a surprisingly minor role in the process (apart from some campaigning assistance) has kicked in. And has gone overboard in the process. read more »
posted: 23-08-2009
AAN Election Blog 21: Observing the Vote - An Election with Many Faces
Election Day 2009. After the suspense of the last few days, things seemed refreshingly normal. Kabul city was quiet, but people were chatting at the side of the road, riding their bicycles and allowing their children to play outside. I had decided to return to the areas where I had watched my first Afghan election enfold in 2004: the Shomali plains, just to the north of Kabul. read more »
posted: 20-08-2009
AAN Electoral Blog No. 19: The day before the 2009 elections
Kabul 19 August 2009. The day started with a several hour shoot-out in Kabul’s old centre after a handful of armed men attacked a bank. The attack was claimed by a Taliban spokesperson and the story that was passed around was that the Taliban had entered the city and that fighting had started, which sounded more alarming than the incident warranted. It took a while to die down and added to the nervousness brought on by several rocket attacks and two suicide bombings during the days before. read more »
posted: 19-08-2009
AAN Electoral Blog No. 18: Some last minute figures
Last minute figures indicate that there will be no voting in nine districts; that it is still not clear how many polling station are planned to be open (the ambiguity could lead to 'ghost polling'), and that FEFA observers will cover roughly 60% of the country's districts. Complaints received by the ECC show marked regional differences. read more »
posted: 19-08-2009
AAN Electoral Blog No. 17: Voter Turnout - stating the obvious
Some things are so obvious that you almost forget to mention them. This is one of them: voter turnout and what that tells us about voter engagement and the credibility of the elections. The answer is: very little. read more »
posted: 19-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 13: The Debate
Sunday afternoon, flicking through the channels (men singing, dubbed cartoons, news in Pashtu) wondering whether it was going to happen, and there it was: the debate. A large light blue studio, an expectant audience and the three contenders sitting slightly nervous on the first row. read more »
posted: 17-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 11: The Return of the General (to be continued)
The unexpected return of General Dostum on Sunday night, one day before the end of the campaign period, may solidify Jombesh support for Karzai - depending of course on how tomorrow's breakfast with President Karzai goes and on what the General tells his followers. read more »
posted: 16-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 10: Elections in far-away places
Elections in far-away places can be fairly crude affairs. Never mind procedures and regulations and forget about the monitors. Travellers from a Hazara enclave in southern Afghanistan, recount what an election looks like in their quarters. read more »
posted: 16-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 9: On the Campaign Trail III
Kabul provincial council candidates try to scrape together their campaign and to attract the attention of the city and district voters. A closer look at how this works, through the eyes of three Kabul contenders – let’s call them Shafiqa, Engineer Ahmad and 'Mohammad the Poor Guy'. read more »
posted: 16-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 7: Parliament's closed doors and wedding discussions
It’s already a while ago that the Parliament closed its doors (after it turned out that most MPs were too busy campaigning to come anywhere near a quorum). A quick look at the subjects they discussed during that first day of convening (25 July 2009) – just after they came back from recess and before they decided to devote themselves to electioneering and with elections looming large – is quite insightful. read more »
posted: 15-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 3: On the Campaign Trail II
Campaigning in Afghanistan. The phone calls start coming in and friends stop by: let me tell you what is happening in my area. These are the details of just one day: rallies, threats and doubts. read more »
posted: 11-08-2009
AAN Election Blog No. 2: On the Campaign Trail
A view of the Afghan elections through the eyes of the so-called ‘minor actors’, those without influence and money who try to navigate and position themselves and try to find their place in what is going on. The first campaigner to be introduced is – let’s call him Abdul Mohammad. read more »
posted: 10-08-2009
Teeth, flowers and another tale of violence
Every day in Afghanistan is full of stories. Most of them with a fair share of bad luck and wry humour and usually quite a bit of violence. This story is about – let’s call him Hamidullah. read more »
posted: 08-06-2009
Modest beginnings
April 2009. After having worked out of the EUSR office in Kabul for almost five years I am suddenly institutionally homeless. I borrow a spare office in an NGO compound, so that I can at least offer people a quiet place and a cup of tea. read more »
posted: 29-05-2009