Despite threats from the Taliban and some irregularities, most observers have hailed Afghanistan’s election as a resounding success. It seems democracy has gained a foothold in the war-torn nation, though the eventual winner will not have an easy job, writes Ali Reza Yunespour.
Amidst ongoing threats and pre-election warnings from the Taliban, Afghanistan’s Election Commission (AEC) announced that around 58 per cent of all eligible voters cast their votes in the presidential and provincial council elections on Saturday.
Women’s participation was highly visible at the majority of polling stations and the overall turnout was higher than the pre-election expectations.
Regardless of who wins or loses, the high voter turnout reveals the real winner of this election is the election process itself. The election process was closely associated with a sense of national solidarity in Afghanistan about the continuation of the current constitution, the first peaceful transition of political power and a response to recent Taliban statements which threatened to disrupt the election.
No doubt some voters again cast their votes for the presidential team which most closely represented their ethnic group. However, a shared sense of future seems to have played a major role and encouraged more eligible voters to participate in this election. This represents a hopeful departure from the bloc ethnic voting that dominated the two previous elections.
Furthermore, this election showed that political culture in Afghanistan has been moving towards stronger support for democracy since the first presidential election in 2004.
Increasingly, Afghan political elites see the need to gain their political legitimacy through election rather than violence. Voters also appear to understand more and more the value of their votes in deciding their rulers.
This changing relationship highlights the fact that the majority of the Afghan people highly value their infant democratic system. In the wake of the fraudulent 2009 election, better monitoring procedures were in place this time to ensure the election was legitimate. Legitimate elections have been recognised as key to the political legitimacy as well as the continuation of the financial and political aid that Afghanistan desperately needs for post-election governance.
Problems and complaints
Despite some problems, the general consensus among more than 300,000 election observers and monitors was that the election took place in a largely peaceful environment and election irregularities uncommon compared to the 2009 election.
Due to insecurity, around 900 out of 6,423 polling stations remained closed, despite the deployment of around 400,000 Afghan and international soldiers across the country.
Afghanistan’s interior minister, Mohammad Omar Deutzia, also confirmed reports of a number of insurgent attacks on the day, mainly in the eastern provinces along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.
In addition, there were reports of shortage of ballot papers in 16 provinces across the country, which meant that some eligible voters were not able to cast their votes. Additionally, two of the candidates, Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai, have publicly complained about fraud in some polling stations. Abdullah has reportedly informed Afghanistan Electoral Complaints Commission (AECC) of the incidents.
Post-election scenarios
While vote counting is already underway and partial results might be announced in the next few days, the highest priority now is the protection and safety of votes.
Unlike the previous elections, in which the three leading candidates belonged to Afghanistan’s three major ethnic groups, this time the two leading candidates, Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Zalmai Rassoul, are from the Pashtun majority while Abdullah Abdullah is regarded as a Tajik candidate. All three are former ministers in Karzai government, though Mr Rassoul is regarded as Karzai’s protégé because of his loyalty and tribal ties to Karzai.
Pre-election polling showed that it was unlikely that any one candidate would secure the required 50 per cent of votes in the first round of the election, which means there may be a run-off election in a few months time.
Whoever wins, it is unlikely they will be able to do much to address the issues of governance, corruption and poverty in Afghanistan during their first term in office.
The candidates’ lack of specific election promises and Afghanistan’s fraught relationship with the international community in the wake of President Karzai’s refusal to sign the security pact with the US mean that the eventual winner will face an onerous task.
Source/Fuente: http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/latenightlive/afghanistans-...
