While the official campaign period for parliamentary election is due to kick off by the end of this week, the democratic process is still faced with major challenges. In addition to rising insecurity, electoral irregularities, and the fear of low voter turnout in many areas due to insecurity, the encounter between the government and political parties has escalated to an extent that may lead to yet another delay in the parliamentary election that is less than a month away from now. Although the government reopened the provincial offices of Independent Election Commission (IEC) in Nangarhar and Herat provinces, the political parties operating under the umbrella of the Grand National Coalition of Afghanistan continue to insist on their demands. Many of their demands are legitimate, except allocation of parliamentary seats to political parties, but it seems unrealistic to meet them given the time remaining for the election, especially at the current critical situation in the country.
Meanwhile, Tadamichi Yamamoto, the Special Representative of the Secretary-General and Head of the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), has also voiced concern over the issue, warning that the political challenges can derail the parliamentary election. He has urged all political parties to engage in constructive dialogue so that the election happens on time.
Any other deferral in the election will be considered a huge setback for Afghanistan, which will further destabilize the country, and erode the public’s remaining trust in the government that has already faced with high public discontent. The level of frustration will jump up since election teams for the parliamentary election have been created and many parliamentary candidates have spent money, too. Beside candidates, their supporters have also come to the conclusion that the government doesn’t have the political will and commitment to hold the election, and is therefore looking for pretexts to postpone it.
All sides have to work together to avoid any further delay in the poll. The government, political parties and civil society organizations should reach an agreement that can be executed. The government should meet all the legitimate demands of political parties and civil society organizations. In the meantime, the political groups should also realize the country’s current critical situation, and drop the demands that are impossible to satisfy, and only can delay the election. To preserve the democratic practice, a relatively transparent election is better than no election at all. Election, as a fundamental principle of democracy, is Afghanistan’s key achievement that should not be sacrificed for partisan and personal demands.
Measures to be taken to control drought in 6 months: Ghani
