Elections in Afghanistan

In the beginning of this process more than 74 persons showed their interest to register themselves for the candidacy.

However, the election commission of Afghanistan announced the registration of 44 persons for the election of the presidential office. Among them are two ladies, Frozen Fana, currently the member of the national assembly and Sheila Ata, medical Doctor.

UNAMA, has welcomed the registration of two ladies for running the most highest post as a sign of democracy in Afghanistan. Registration for election is closed in 5 o’clock local time Friday 8th of may.

Among the candidates ,more visible faces are Mr.Karzai, the current president, and his team of vice presidents , (Qasim Fahim and Abdul Karim Khalili) both from Tajek and Hazara ethnicities respectively. Others are Dr. Ashraf Ghani, the ex-finance minister of Karzai and economic expert, Basher Doost, current member of the national assembly, Dr.Abdullah the member of the communist-com- mujahedeen opposition alliance under prof. Rabbani,…:

The ex-Taliban also has two persons by the names of Mullah Abdulsalam Rakiti, and Mullah Mohammad Saeed Hashimi, while Abdul Jabar Sabet, the ex-attorney general and Abdul Qader.Emami Ghori, also current member of the national assembly….. have registered themselves as ex-members of Hezbe Islami Afghanistan. While both the Parties of Taliban and Hezbe Islami has rejected the election under occupation and denounced those who want to run.


Will US support Karzai?

The US authorities has already announced that , they will not favor any one of the recent candidates for the forthcoming presidential election, however, hosting of president Karzai on 6th may by US president Obama showed, they have already made their choice . The statement which is circulated says that in the future the “ Obama administration may, indeed, look for ways to press Mr. Karzai to crack down on corruption and drug trafficking.

According to political pundits, the current president Mr.Karzai and his team of vice presidents, is going to win on the 20th of August 2009. Although the real term of Mr.Karzai in the office will increase more than twelve years if he get the second win as is predicted.

In the current office Mr.Karzai has two vice presidents, Zia Massud and Karim Khalili both ethnically Tajek and Hazar respectively. However, the development of differences between President and his first deputy Zia Massud, a brother of northern alliance slain commander Ahmad Sha Massud, made the situation uneasy in the presidential office.

Within two working years in the office with Karzai, Zia Massud departed his ways and started to be, both the vice president and member of so-called opposition alliance under Mr.Rabbani.

Karzai’s choice of Fahim and Khalili as his deputies, might be reasoned to get the votes of two ethnic minorities, nonetheless, the past experience of election in 2005 , where Karzai and his team was elected, got only a few hundred votes of Tajek and Hazaras. But both minority groups went behind their own representatives for the top office of the country, therefore, the majority votes of these ethnic minorities went to candidates ,like Younus Qanuni, and Muhaqia , respectively.

The voting process in 2005 , which was completely controlled by UNAMA, came under sever and strict criticism for Poling a large number of bogus votes for the elected team. According to reliable sources most of the ballot boxes were filed in the refugees camps in Peshawar. This allegation turned to be proved, when hot verbal fighting started between the two head of states of Pakistan and Afghanistan on the alleged help for Taliban insurgency to fight the Afghan govt. Mr. Musharraf, the than president of Pakistan, while strongly condemning Mr. Karzai’s allegations, asked the former to thank about , who were those who filled his ballot boxes during the election.

Indeed, under the pretext of Bonn process, Mr. Karzai himself was the choice of Pakistan as the representative of the majority Pashtoons in Afghanistan.

The Pakistani think tank, while sucking the injuries made by Nawaz Sharif’s mishandling of the afghan situation in 1992 , where the than prime minister of Pakistan along with his intelligence and political team made an incompetent and week government, , in Peshawar governor house, against the wishes of the majority Afghans, for already destroyed Afghanistan. He, at the time, to get the loyalty of Rabbani and Massud, ignored the majority and selected Mr.Rabbani as president and Ahmad Sha Massud as defense minister. Therefore, during the Bonn process the Pakistani thank tank eagerly wanted a government which according to them to represent the majority Pashtoons and not run by Rabbani’s ethnic clique.

The Northern alliance, on its turn and on the behest of its foreign supporters , not left any opportunity for turning the stone under the feet of Pakistanis and had used each and every opportunity to degrade Pakistan’s images in the eyes of the world community. But in the post Bonn process in 2002, the Pakistanis were on the same wrong track as they were in 1992,where they chose Mr. Karzai as the transitional president of the country. Mr. Karzai himself was neither a strong man nor had he a strong political background. After gaining the election he completely rely on the northern mafia and warlords. He appointed these warlords as his cabinet members and governors. If Mr. Karzai has had any intention to purge the country from the mafia and warlords, he would have done it with the help of strong international support and with the help of occupation forces already existed behind him.

The new team announced by Karzai with the only change of Zia with Fahim, both ethnic Tajeks and trustful friends of Russia and India, is under strict critics , not only form the Afghan intellectuals, but also from the international community.

Karzai’s government, in the past seven long years , has described by the international community as incapable and incompetent, which run by the warlords and drug mafia. International community has also accused the present government as the abuser of Human rights in most parts of the country.

US president Barak Husain Obama, vice president Joe Biden, and State secretary Hillary Clinton stated the Karzai government as the most corrupt one.

Even President Obama, in his first pre-election visit of Afghanistan, instead of meeting Karzai, he favored to meet the governor of Nangarhar, Mr. Gul agha sherzai.

Vice president Joe Biden, left Karzai’s hearing in the senate committee, and went out, where he blamed Karzai of laying and exaggerating. Hillary Clinton time and again accused Mr.Karzai and his administration on corruption and incompetency.

“ During her conformational hearing, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called Afghanistan a “narco-state” with a government “plagued by limited capacity and widespread corruption.”



Mr. Holbrooke, a special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan , has written — as he did in a column in The Washington Post last spring — that in Afghanistan, “massive, officially sanctioned corruption and the drug trade are the most serious problems the country faces .”

A Westerner close to the United Nations said on condition of anonymity that the UN special envoy for Afghanistan, Kai Eide, had warned Karzai for months against picking Fahim.

Karzai “believes he will bring him votes,” said the diplomat on condition of anonymity.

But, “the reaction in the international community could be counterproductive and the reaction inside the country among those who want to move in a new direction would be negative,” he said.

The question is, what these corrupt, if elected, will accomplish in the future if they were filled to deliver any good in the past?

The most important question is what would bring the change of faces if the election under occupation is held again by the occupation forces?

The answer will be definitely negative. Because both Qasim Fahim and Karim Khalili have registered with the international human rights org. as the abuser of the human rights and norms.

According to most analysts, Karzai wants to take Fahim as the choice of the three neighbors, India, Russia, and Iran. While Mr. Khalili is counting as ally of Iran. Mr. Karzai himself educated in India, also is the friend of Pakistani Intelligence, favor India most. So Mr.Karzai wants to keep friendship with the upper mentioned neighbors for taking these two unwanted figures as his vice presidents.


Is election possible?

There also raises the question of possibility of conducting the election on 20th of August.

According to independent sources, most parts of the southern and east southern as well as some parts of the western and northern provinces are under sever turmoil. Only on 6th of may, the US led NATO forces bombed the village of Bala Bluk distrtict of Farah province and killed and injured more than 170 innocent people including women and children. Over these mass killing the state department also shed the tear of crocodile for the slain innocent people but refuse to take responsibility for the mass killing.

The immediate aftermath of these mass killing is large demonstrations in the big cities of the country. In Farah itself people protested against the invading forces and called on the US to “go out” of the country. However, their protest again turn to be violence with the loss of one person and injuring a few more.

In Kabul itself, the student of the universities protested against the occupation on 10th may and raised banners which said “USA is the biggest terrorist in the world”.

The mass killing by the US led forces in the most congested areas like Herat, Helmand, Qandahar, Farah and… has frustrated the people and had increased hater and odium about the presence of the occupation forces under the sacred name of security. Therefore, the forth coming election, where the international forces has their own choice will decrease the interest of the people to go to the ballot boxes.

Mean while, Seema Samar , the chief of human rights commission in Afghanistan along with UN representative to Afghanistan expressed her concerns over the election process and stated that , in the previous election, 2005, even one male filled and casted vote for 15 women.

Furthermore, according to the Afghan TV’s aired from US, in most parts of the northern provinces, like Kunduz, Badakhshan, Baghlan,Takhar,Balkh ….., the situation for election is not conducive.

The Germen armed forces stationed in the area also showed their concerns for the security of their own forces , where the Germen Chancellor Merkel nearly escaped from a rocket fire of the insurgents in April this year. The TV program conductors from Afghanistan said , even most districts of Wardak province, the nearest to the Capital Kabul, has not witnessed any delegation for vote registering.

Security problem:

Although, the afghan defense ministry spokesman stated, they are prepare to tackle with the security, where NATO and US has promised to send 5000 additional forces to help security in the election process, Robert Fisk a British analyst has said that ”though no one want to support the Taliban , but the people are fed up with the corrupt regime of Karzai, therefore, to counter the insurgency, the international community should have more than 500,000 soldiers. He argued that , the than Soviet Union had involved in Afghanistan with 100 thousand solders while the Afghan communist government had had 150,000 army and militia forces, but defeated.

The results of election:

At the same time, both of the opposition parties, Taliban and Hezbe Islami, in their issued statements asked the nation not to go to the ballot boxes, and called this election under occupation as big fraud. They also stated that the change of faces could not change the situation and until and unless the occupation forces did not elaborate their time schedule for the complete withdrawal of their forces, and do not leave the Afghans to decide themselves about their own future, they will not recognize any election or government, coming through these elections, as the choice of the people but rather will count it as the robber stamps of the occupiers.

The writer was:


The Director General of Afghan News Agency (ANA)

And now as:

Chief of Peace and reconciliation council.