Afghans will go to the polls on the upcoming Saturday to elect their representatives for Wolesi Jirga or lower house of parliament. This is the third time Afghanistan holds its parliamentary election following the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001. The sitting members of the parliament served three additional years beyond their five-year term limit due to repeated delays in the election. The National Unity Government postponed the election several times on the pretext of reforming the electoral system, but neither was the system overhauled, nor were the promises made in that regard honored. Faced with serious pressures from the political parties and civil society organizations, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) agreed at the last minute to use biometric technology for voter identification during election. The way agreed upon to use the biometric system cannot fully guarantee the transparency of election. If the reports about the technical glitches of the biometric devices hold water, the system will not be able to prevent multiple votes even at the same polling center.
Despite all its flaws, election is a good opportunity Afghan people should utilize to choose their representatives. The higher the voter turnout, the greater the legitimacy of this democratic process. Given a lack of government and IEC’s political will to organize a transparent poll, people should not limit their responsibility to voting only. If their life will not be in danger, they have to oversee the voting process in addition to casting their ballots. If they go to the polls in the current critical security situation by taking a huge risk to exercise their right and will, they should also try to make sure their votes are not compromised.
Now that people have given up hope that the government will work to ensure the transparency of election, it should at least try its best to ensure the protection of the voters. Election is completely a people-driven, people-serving process, and the vast majority of its participants are unarmed civilians who are unable to defend themselves, so that is why they can easily be targeted. The recent Taliban warning further increases the responsibility of government in general and security apparatus in particular. As they have vowed, the Taliban may resort to any means possible to disrupt the national democratic process. Even a minor mistake and negligence of the security apparatus during this democratic process, especially on the election day, can lead to a major tragedy. Therefore, Afghan security forces should act with exceptional caution and professionalism on Saturday.