The National Democratic Institute (NDI) today expressed deep concern over the high levels of fraud complaints filed with Afghan election authorities. (Read the full statement in English | Dari | Pashto)

For Afghanistan’s recent presidential and provincial council elections, NDI fielded a delegation of more than 100 international and Afghan observers stationed in every region of the country and Kabul, the capital city.  

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad presented his final list of cabinet nominees to the nation late on Aug. 19. The president must present his cabinet within two weeks of his inauguration and presidents have traditionally waited the full two weeks, preventing extended parliamentary discussion of candidates before their confirmation.

Majid Mohammadi

The disputed presidential election and its violent aftermath have led members of the Iranian religious establishment to question the moral, legal and religious foundations of the Islamic Republic. Prior to the election, Shi’a clerics mostly debated the relative balance of the Republic’s Islamic and democratic aspects. Now debate has shifted to the fundamental nature, pillars and theoretical justifications for the regime itself – centered on the Shi’a concept of the guardianship of the jurist (velāyat-e faqih).