Editor in Chief: Moh. Reza Huwaida Thursday, March 28th, 2024

Elections Controversies Continue

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Elections Controversies Continue

The future of peace and tranquility within Afghan society remains ambiguous and it is also affecting the confidence of the people regarding the important development processes. Security situation can play a very vital role in Afghan's socio-political scenario. Afghan authorities along with Western allies have to guarantee the country's security before the withdrawal process is completed otherwise it would be very difficult for the country to attain stability and discourage terrorism.

It is believed by serious minds that the security of the country is largely dependent on the nature of the reconciliation process that is going on in the country and the political evolution that may take place. Even if some sort of reconciliation is made, the country may not be able to achieve its objective of being reintegrated unless political evolution is supported through proper political amendments. Afghanistan's political system at the moment requires many amendments before it can compensate for the multi-ethnic and diverse nature of Afghan society.

Though there are many processes that are necessary for the political development in Afghanistan, the 2014 elections are going to play a very vital role. What will be the nature of the elections and how they are going to be conducted will to a large extent decide the future of political setup in Afghanistan. Elections have very decisive role in the democratic political systems.

The regularity and transparency of elections provide a strong foundation to the pillars of democracy. Unfortunately, the political system of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has certain disadvantages in this regard. There have not been a very rich history of regular elections in Afghanistan and the ones that have been carried out have not been comprehensive enough.

The last of the elections – the Afghan presidential and provincial council elections held on August 20, 2009, were widely characterized as marred by lack of security, violence, extremely low voter turnout, and widespread ballot stuffing, intimidation, and other electoral fraud. A total of 2,800 complaints were received by the Election Complaints Commission (ECC), with the largest proportion concerning indiscretion at the poll, which included ballot box stuffing and voter intimidation. The New York Times wrote, "Fraud was so pervasive that nearly a quarter of all votes were thrown out."

By looking at what has happened so far regarding elections, it is not difficult to foresee the 2014 elections. But currently the greatest of all the concerns is whether the elections will be conducted as per the schedule. Regularity plays a key role in the overall impact of election process; however, some key figures in Afghan and international politics seem to doubt whether the upcoming elections will be conducted on time.

The doubts have appeared mostly because of the intersection of the deadline of international troop's withdrawal and the election schedule and the emphasis of President Karzai to change the election schedule. There are many who doubt that Afghan security forces will be able to shoulder the security responsibilities and will, as a result, provide ready ground for elections and, at the same time, there are many who believe that the preponement of the elections may provide President Karzai a chance to contest in 2014 elections. Though President Karzai, in a recent interview with CNN, vehemently rejected the prospects that he would contest in the next elections, it is difficult to prognosticate that he would not do so.

The opposition parties in Afghanistan have united to ensure fair, on-schedule and in-line-with Afghanistan's constitution elections in 2014. The members of Afghan National Front (ANF) and the National Coalition of Afghanistan (NCA) in a joint press conference on April 30, 2012, emphasized that the political power transition in the country must be properly followed in accordance to the constitution and the Afghan government and President must ensure its proper handling. In a joint statement, the parties said put forward the following proposal (excerpt) for the 2014 elections;

The announcement of the date and holding of the Presidential Election must be according to the constitution. Bringing the election date forward or delaying it is against the constitution. Despite this, according to Clause 67 of the Constitution, we would welcome the resignation of the President as a pre-requisite to holding an early election in 2013.

The statement also proposed for amending the Electoral Law and the Law of Organization and authority of the Independent Election Commission (IEC), computerization of the electoral process and preparation of voters list throughout the country and organizing the electoral process in partnership with the international community, especially the United Nations.

It is a crystal clear fact that unless the international community or international organizations support Afghan government it would be very difficult to have free and fair elections on schedule. The fear regarding the schedule of the elections is a genuine one as the election schedule coincides with the withdrawal of international troops. Though there are many other factors as well that will be influencing the 2014 elections, security will, as usual, remain a big challenge.
Jan Kubis, United Nations envoy to Afghanistan ensured last month that UN will definitely support the country's electoral authorities to ensure the sustainability, integrity and inclusiveness of future polls. However, the January 2012 selection of five supporters of the President as new commissioners of the Independent Election Commission and the government's efforts to keep the international community distant from the process are pointing to some heinous intentions.

No sane mind would doubt that Afghan political system needs regular free and fair elections. So, the Afghan authorities, especially the Afghan President himself must strive to protect the Afghan constitution and make sure that their personal considerations do not prove to be detrimental for the nation as a whole. On the other hand, Western allies must put pressure and provide assistant so that the 2014 elections must be held on time and must not have the drawbacks that were present in 2009 Presidential elections.

It must be made sure that improvements are brought in the polling systems that can help the people of Afghanistan participate without complications in the elections and have their true representatives in parliament. Moreover, there are margins of improvements in the arbitration system and voter registrations. Government has to bring more innovations in this regard and make sure that maximum number of people participates in elections. Above all, the rampant corruption must not be allowed by the Afghan government (which seems very much improbable) and the supporting countries and organizations to ruin the elections.

Dilawar Sherzai is the permanent writer of the Daily outlook Afghanistan. He can be reached at dilawar.sherzai@gmail.com

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