The final results of parliamentary election of some provinces, including Kabul as the country’s biggest constituency, have not yet been announced almost six months after the ballot was held. This is a failure unprecedented in Afghanistan’s election history. How a government and its leadership that could not declare the results of Wolesi Jirga election in over five months would not feel embarrassed by appealing to the public to back their re-election bid. The National Unity Government not only has failed to honor its promises to improve people’s lives but its failure to handle the routine affairs is also unprecedented, of which the messy parliamentary election is just one example.
The government postponed the parliamentary election for three years under the pretext of electoral reform. Despite the long delay, the election was riddled by massive irregularities and fraud ensuring from the very beginning that its result could not be announced on time. Given the irregularities and fraud on the day of election, the postponement of the results was expected, but not for a period of about half a year. Without making comparison with other countries, a month is enough time for the announcement of election results.
Nothing can justify further delay in the announcement of the results. Final decision on the fate of the results should be made as soon as possible. If the level of electoral fraud is as high as it can question the legitimacy of the election, and if the government intends to completely invalidate the results, it should act as quickly as possible. Regardless of the fraud, millions of people braved serious security threats to cast their votes, and have been waiting for the results for months.
The government should not further undermine public faith in the election process and predominantly in the democratic system. After countless sacrifices, Afghans have won suffrage for peaceful transition of power, and no one should divest them of this basic right. The fate of Wolesi Jirga election should be determined at the earliest possible time. The current uncertainty further increases the fragility of the embattled government, and widens distance between masses and government.
