Recently, there have been debates, in national and international circles, regarding Afghan government and its ability to deal with the challenges within the country. However, it has been observed that Afghan government has not been able to offer even elementary necessities of life to majority of its people and have not been able to search for fitting resolution to various political problems that influence the system to a great extent. There has been a tag of corruption and it is said that it does not have the potential to accomplish good governance. Even though, the international community on different occasions has highlighted that their assistance is conditioned on the basis of good governance, hitherto there has not been key steps carried out by Afghan government to formulate achievements in this regard. More than eleven years of support and assistance seems to have gone without success and the country still suffers from myriads of evils.

The capacity of good governance is reviewed by its potential to present the basic necessities of life to the people effortlessly and readily. In addition, it must attempt to elevate the standard of living of the masses. Government stands as one of the most significant actors in good governance. It is the government that chooses whether good governance is realized or not. There are certain important characteristics that must be achieved so as to create it. Good governance has to be participatory, consensus-oriented, answerable, transparent, approachable, effective and efficient, equitable and all-encompassing and pursues the rule of law.

Good governance strives that there should be partaking of all the important groups of the society within the decision making process and must engage both men and women. Participation could be either direct or through lawful intermediate institutions or representatives. It is important to indicate that representative democracy does not necessarily mean that the concerns of the most susceptible in society would be taken into deliberation in decision-making. Participation needs to be knowledgeable and structured. This means freedom of association and expression on the one hand and an organized civil society on the other hand. Unluckily, in our country Afghanistan the decision-making is not carried out through proper participation of the representatives of the people. In reality, the decision making process is very much centralized.

An imperative characteristic of good governance is that it is consensus oriented. There are numerous actors and diverse opinions in a given society. Good governance requires arbitration of the different interests in society to reach a wide consensus in society on what is in the best interest of the whole community and how this can be acquired. It also requires a broad and long-term perspective on what is needed for sustainable human development and how to acquire the goals of such development.

This can only result from an understanding of the historical, cultural and social contexts of a given society or community. Afghan government has not been able to build up a strong consensus and the ruling class does not seem much worried about any sort of consensus.

Accountability is a key obligation of good governance. Not only governmental institutions but also the private sector and civil society organizations must be accountable to the public and to their institutional stakeholders.

Afghan government, conversely, has been formed in such a manner that it is complicated to hold the Presidential Office accountable for its policies and actions. It can do whatever it wants without standing accountable to its people. As a matter of fact accountability can be acquired when there is transparency and the rule of law.

Nonetheless, both these characteristics seem to be non-existent in Afghan society. Transparency and rule of law can be maintained when there is proper segregation of power and the different organs of state can function on their own. In effect, judiciary and law enforcement agencies must be competent to hold the law as the top priority theme. In Afghan political system the separation of powers is not clear and the judiciary is not capable enough to pressure the Cabinet in true sense. Furthermore, the powerful and the rich are mostly considered above the law and the poor and weak have to go through the ‘quagmire of law and order system’.

Good governance requires that institutions and processes attempt to serve all stakeholders within a reasonable timeframe. It means that it should be approachable. In the same way it should also ensure equity and inclusiveness. A society’s wellbeing depends on ensuring that all its members sense that they have a stake in it and do not feel barred from the mainstream of society. This requires all groups, but particularly the most vulnerable, have opportunities to get better or maintain their well-being but what Afghan government has to offer us is the disregard for the most vulnerable. The minority groups in reality endure from lack of proper participation in decision-making and they find their existence in jeopardy within the society.

Good governance also means that processes and institutions generate results that meet the needs of society while making the best of resources at their disposal. The concept of efficiency in the context of good governance also covers the sustainable utilization of natural resources and the protection of environment.

It is correct that all the characteristics mentioned above cannot be acquired by a government or a society as they depict what an ideal governance must hold, but it is also true that there are many nations in the world that, to a gratifying extent, have achieved most of them. Thus, Afghan government has to make endeavors to achieve these characteristics if it really wants to achieve good governance honestly and it desires to serve its people in a superior manner.