Connecting with Kabul: The Importance of the Wolesi Jirga Election and Local Political Networks in Afghanistan
Date
2010-05
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Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)
Abstract
There is a renewal of interest in the lower house of Afghanistan’s parliament, known
as the Wolesi Jirga, taking place in both Afghan domestic politics and international
discussion about governance in Afghanistan. This is particularly in the wake of the house’s
rejection of a significant number of ministerial nominees, its opposition to President
Hamid Karzai’s recent election decree and its initial refusal to ratify the national
budget. With an evolving relationship with the executive branch, and elections currently
scheduled for 18 September 2010, there are many questions about the role of the Wolesi
Jirga in national and local politics that have not been considered carefully enough. And
despite widespread concern about fraud and corruption during the 2009 presidential and
provincial council elections, there is little consensus on what lessons were learned from
those elections or what parliamentary elections mean for politics in Afghanistan.
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Keywords
Elections -- Afghanistan, Afghanistan -- Politics and government -- 2001-