The UN Special Secretary General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Mr. Jan Kubis has once again iterated that a smooth political transition in 2014 is significant priority for stability in Afghanistan. Talking at the NATO summit in Brussels, he said that the ongoing security transition and UN’s focus areas of political and economic transitions are deeply intertwined. He added that Afghan forces’ ability to provide security and protect the population will be crucial for convincing the people of their safe future in a stable Afghanistan, essential for the success of the ongoing political and economic transitions.

Briefing the NATO leaders about the political transfer of 2014, he reiterated that it is the political transition that will eventually underpin the security transition. Security – both on the ground and in perception - in turn is a vital part of ensuring inclusive participation in elections. He further said that a free, fair and transparent election better than the previous ones is critical to Afghanistan’s stability and continued international support after 2014.

Mr. Kubis reminded the Karzai Administration that critical decisions are needed to be taken regarding the elections including an agreement on an impartial, credible and independent electoral dispute resolution mechanism and a widely accepted process for appointing senior election officials who are respected, professional and impartial. He said UNAMA’s role is to help promote participatory Afghan decision-making in building a robust electoral architecture, besides holding the lead in building coherent international support to credible, sustainable and inclusive polls.

It seems like President Karzai continues to reject all popular demands from the opposition. Not a single demand from the long list discussed in consultation meetings earlier have been agreed upon; from the cancellation of old voter registration cards to an independent ECC.

The Karzai Administration needs to take the domestic demands and calls from international community into account and abandon the idea of judicial tribunals for electoral disputes. The independent body of the complaints commission is better mechanism and should continue. The President continues to call it a foreign demand, while the fact is that Lower House of parliament had approved the proposal of foreign members in ECC with heavy majority. We have seen the crisis in previous parliamentary elections with the judicial tribunals. A similar episode in 2014 will not end with dictation from Palace, but will be decided on streets.

The international community needs to ensure a smooth and transparent transfer of power in Kabul in 2014 through free and fair elections at all costs; otherwise it will not take the insurgency to bring things to the pre-2001 situation.