The fear of deepening election crisis amid country’s tense situation

The peaceful and political transition of power was the main and very important achievement of Afghanistan over the last two decades. As a peaceful alternative, election was a hard-won, valuable development in a country whose history has been full of violent transfer of power from one government to another. Although the democratic process still cannot appropriately represent the will of the people, it remains to be an irreplaceable option despite all the flaws. Afghan people have come a long way and made a lot of sacrifices to reach this stage. The takeover of power through ways other than election reminds Afghan people of their past bitter memories.
Afghan election is faced with various challenges as the five-year term of the National Unity Government is nearing completion amid the country’s deteriorating situation. The fear of vote rigging, rising insecurity and deprivation of a large number of people of the franchise are the factors questioning the legitimacy of election. Despite all these imperfections, poll is the only way reflecting the will of the nation. In addition to the existing problems, the demands of political parties have posed new challenges to the parliamentary election. A number of political groups and figures operating under the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan want a change in electoral system and a transparent election. Many of the demands of political parties are logical, except allocation of parliamentary seats to political parties, but the possibility to meet them is a point of discussion given the time remaining for the election. While the parliamentary poll is just over a month away, there is no enough time to realize the demands, especially by a weak, divided administration like the National Unity Government.
The alliance of political parties closed the provincial offices of the Independent Election Commission (IEC) in southern Kandahar, western Herat and northern Balkh provinces after their ultimatum to the government expired. The move invited a strong reaction from the government, forcefully reopening IEC offices in Kandahar and Herat yesterday. It is right that the government is legally authorized to use force, but it has to seek logical solutions before the problem exacerbates. Both sides should engage in a constructive dialogue, be flexible taking into account the critical situation of the country, and try not to further deepen the ongoing crisis by putting unnecessary emphasis on their decisions.