Victory and defeat in election are part of the political struggle in a democratic society. The philosophy of election is that it is a zero-sum game in which one side will be a winner and another loser. The parties involved in mainstream Afghan politics do not remain committed to the rules of the game during their political struggle, though they consider themselves fully compliant with democratic values. Early claims of victory by the electoral tickets before the official announcement of the outcome of the presidential election by relevant institutions exemplify lack or breach of commitment. Both frontrunners claim to have won the election, while the authority to declare the winner and loser exclusively lies with the election commissions. The presidential tickets are not authorized to make such claims, and worry Afghan people through irresponsible statements.
The behavior of election tickets signals that the 2014 presidential election scenario is unfolding. Even if any of the two leading candidates is certain about his defeat, he will keep claiming victory in order to secure some concessions from his rival. The losing presidential team will make every effort to guarantee a share in the future government instead of respecting the will of people and acceding defeat. The outcome of such move may again be the creation of a coalition government like the current National Unity Government (NUG) in which both teams will share power.
The formation of NUG was unfortunately a failed experience. Afghans lost both time and plenty of opportunities over the last five years of the government. The repeat of this bitter experience is not in the best interest of the country as the last five years proved the current leading teams cannot work together. They have a clash of interests, which prevents them from working together to serve the nation. The establishment of a power-sharing or coalition government is not in the interest of the country and people. Thus, all electoral teams better respect the will of people, and accept the results. After ensuring transparency, the election commissions must announce the results with utter independence and courage, which will determine the winner and loser of the democratic process. This is in the interests of the presidential tickets, as well. For them, concession is better than working in a government whose failure is inevitable. The election tickets, in case the regime continues, will have the chance to compete with each other after five years, but another failed experience in governance can deprive them of such an opportunity.