How people have proven Afghanistan is not a failed state
Afghanistan’s long-awaited parliamentary elections closed on October 21, a day after voting began. The proactive involvement of four million registered voters in this election – despite the security threats and intimidation – is noteworthy and illuminates the dynamics of a long history of struggle for democracy in Afghanistan. This year, as the country prepared itself to embark on another democratic journey, it was confronted with the harsh realities that continue to hound and torment Afghans on the ground.
Significantly, there were a series of terrorist attacks at several polling stations across the country on both the polling days. Moreover, two days before the first day of polling, a Taliban militant, masquerading as the governor’s bodyguard, assassinated Kandahar police chief general Abdul Raziq along with the provincial spy chief Abdul Mohmin and governor Zalmai Wesa on October 17. This attempt was to ruthlessly hit at the morale of the Afghan voters, who nonetheless fearlessly braved the threats to cast their votes for the 249 seat Wolesi Jirga (lower house). It led to the postponement of elections in the Kandahar province however. This was clearly an act of instilling fear among Afghan citizens to deter them from participating in the political process.
Prior to this attack, Taliban militants had launched targeted attacks on voter registration centres through April to June and on candidates running for the October elections. However, the terrorist attacks targeting the police chief in Kandahar did not deter voters from moving out of their homes to exercise their political right and vote for their parliamentary representatives, thus re-strengthening their faith in democracy.
Afghanistan’s encounter with democracy has historically been tumultuous, owing to deepening political contestations as well as mounting insecurity in the country. The October 20 elections were the third parliamentary polls to be conducted following the post-Taliban Bonn Conference of 2001. The first two elections were held in 2005 and 2010, showing that the capability and capacity of the governing structures has grown since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. However, due to political disputes and disagreements over voter registration and electoral reforms, the upcoming third election, which was first scheduled to be held in 2015, was repeatedly postponed — first to October 15, 2016, and then, to July 7, 2018.
The lingering issue of electoral reforms continues to thwart democratic successes of the past.
The reforms have to do with the change in the method of voting, from a Single Non-Transferable Vote (SNTV) system to Multi-Dimensional Representation (MDR). This would allow political parties to have a greater role in the elections. While under the SNTV system, voters select a candidate rather than a party, the MDR system allows parties to field a party-based candidates list and votes cast for these lists would be transferable in each constituency in order to “prevent wastage of people’s votes”. While the demand for change in the electoral system can be seen as legitimate, it must be noted that implementation of such a proposal is both radical and time-consuming and will require a larger national debate.
As the electoral reforms remain a larger political goal of all major national parties, the issue of the fear posed by the Taliban is both persistent and pervasive.
Since the voter registration period – April to June – a positive momentum for elections gathered force among the electorate and candidates experienced a series of targeted attacks on their campaign rallies. In making conscious attempts to derail the democratic process, the Taliban have attacked several candidates since the registration process started on April 14.
Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) had registered 30 attacks against election candidates— during this period, according to the commission, at least 54 people, including 10 parliamentary candidates, were killed and 186 others injured. Under these circumstances, the Election Commission closed down 2,000 polling stations out of 19,000 polling stations spread across 33 provinces. At least 10 districts that fall under Taliban control were excluded from the October polls that have a total of 2,565 candidates, including 417 women.
Against this backdrop, there was a persistent fear of the October elections falling hostage to the Taliban. The history of parliamentary elections in Afghanistan has been of turbulence, divided along ethnic fault lines, political rivalries and electoral controversies over corruption. As these maladies create space for alienation among the masses that may become susceptible to radicalisation and violent extremism, these also pose a threat to the larger issues of democratic stability and political legitimacy. Unfortunately, Afghanistan has seen poor governance in the past that has perpetuated conflict and violence in the country. In this history of violence and disarray, it becomes increasingly clear that the maladies that limited the accomplishment of parliamentary electoral politics also afflict the social and economic well-being of a nation.
Afghanistan’s tryst with democracy is intertwined with the process of nation-building where the Afghan, as a collective identity, must intensify and move towards a revolutionary mass mobilisation that's galvanised against the brutalities of the Taliban and its external patrons.
Given the election-related violence and chaos perpetrated by the Taliban, the October elections are surely a run-up for the presidential elections in April 2019, suggesting a future brimming with perennial disruptions and disorder.
Enveloped in uncertainties, the parliamentary elections have shown that out of the four competing emotions – fear, hope, loss, exuberance – there emerges a mosaic that dominates the political landscape of the country.
The challenge now lies in consolidating the gains that Afghanistan has made in its quest for democracy.
Besides, the struggle of Afghan electorate – the people’s will – in this year’s political participation contributes to the deconstruction of the myth that Afghanistan is a failed democracy.