Quadriga - Afghanistan after Karzai: Chaos or New Era?

Hamid Karzai has led Afghanistan since just after the Taliban regime was toppled in 2001. He was re-elected to his final term in office in 2009 in a poll tainted by allegations of voter intimidation and fraud.

The Taliban attacks of the past weeks may be an attempt to frighten foreign election observers and journalists and create a climate of violence to discredit the upcoming election and the next government.

The three most likely candidates, former ministers Zalmay Rassoul, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, are all members of the political elite. The ethnic backgrounds of the candidates have played an important role. The only woman to register as a candidate was disqualified by the electoral commission. Irregularities are widely expected in the election. Yet it may be the first one in Afghanistan in which power is handed over democratically.

How free and fair will the Afghan election be? Will the next president manage to bridge the ethnic divides and get Afghanistan on course to a stable democracy?

Tell us what you think: Afghanistan after Karzai: Chaos or New Era?

Quadriga[at]dw.de

Our guests:

Malaiz Daud - He is a Berlin-based independent political analyst. Founder of Afghan Youth Foundation for Unity (AYFUn) and Young Leaders Forum (YLF), he has previously worked for the President’s Office, Ministries of Agriculture and Rural Development as well as Constitutional and Transitional Coordination Commissions in addition to CARE International, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) and Club de Madrid. He has a post-graduate degree in Post-War Recovery from the University of York. He is the author of numerous articles on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Günter Knabe - studied political science before beginning extensive field trips across Asia in the 1960s. In 1979, he joined Deutsche Welle, first as a reporter, later moving up to head of department for Afghanistan, then the whole of Asia. From 2003 on he was the broadcaster's diplomatic correspondent for Asia and the Islamic world in Berlin.

Sven Hansen - studied politics at university before becoming a journalist. His interest in Asian affairs began when he was a freelancer working in Hong Kong as well as other centres. In 1997, he joined the Berlin daily the "taz", as editor of the Asian desk. He still often travels to the region.