Addressing a crowd of women in Kabul on Monday, presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani-Ahmadzai promised to address the many challenges facing women across the country and to form a more inclusive government, including the nomination of a female to the Afghan Supreme Court.
Women’s rights and empowerment have played a major role in the campaign rhetoric of the two runoff candidates - Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and Abdullah Abdullah. But Monday’s promise from Dr. Ghani-Ahmadzai stands apart as perhaps the most significant, specific pledge either of the two men has made. There has never been a woman on the bench of the Afghan Supreme court.
“We have persistently worked for women’s development step-by-step, which is why we named our team 'Continuity and Transformation’, because we want a sustainable transformation so that Afghan women's role in leadership is sustained,” Dr. Ghani-Ahmadzai told his supporters on Monday. “For an effective presence of Afghan women in the legal process, I promise to designate a female judge in civil affairs to the Supreme Court and there is no legal and religious restriction against it.”
Afghan women’s rights activists and groups have long complained about the lack of representation and fair treatment women have in law enforcement and the country’s judicial system. The handling of cases involving violence against women, in particular, has been a concern for activists. Rates of domestic violence in Afghanistan have increased over the past couple years despite there being a general consensus that the plight of Afghan women has improved dramatically since the fall of the Taliban.
Dr. Ghani-Ahmadzai touched on the issue of violence against women on Monday and said that programs would be formulated to revitalize efforts to improve Afghan women’s lives and combat gender discrimination in the public sphere. He also said the cases of female prisoners around the country would be re-assessed under his administration.
Overall, the presidential hopeful and former Minister of Finance emphasized the importance of rule of law and his respect for the Afghan Constitution. “It would be the best day of my government when the Supreme Court tells me that I have done something illegal, and I would reply: 'thank you for informing me’,” Dr. Ghani-Ahmadzai said.
Suraya Subh Rang, a commissioner of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC), has followed the runoff campaigns and urged both candidates to follow through on the promises they have made in the pursuit of voters’ support. Only four days remain until Afghans head back to the polls to choose their next president.
Source/Fuente: http://www.tolonews.com/elections2014/ashraf-ghani-promises-put-female-s...
