There are concerns regarding the socio-political scenario in Afghanistan, especially after the withdrawal of US and other international troops. One of the basic factors that are going to play a very dominant role in deciding the future is the presidential and provincial council elections due in 2014; and the role of Independent Election Commission (IEC) in the elections would be vital. It is really necessary that IEC must function as an independent body and must not be dominated by the government.

Currently, IEC is in the process of finalizing the voter registration, which is vital to have an effective election. On Saturday, July 27, IEC announced that it had launched the second phase of voter registration campaign at district and village levels, ahead of the elections.

Fazl Ahmad Manawi, the IEC chief told that the campaign would continue with 375 centers established in districts and police districts in big cities as part of the second round. The process would end two weeks ahead of the elections.

Voter registration at district level is really very necessary as it would guarantee maximum participation of the voters in the elections. The results of the elections would highly depend on the number of the people who cast their votes. Unfortunately, in Afghanistan it would be very difficult to bring a large number of people to the voting centers because of various reasons. Among these reasons, oblivion regarding the election process and its vitality and the insecurity are the most dominant ones and they would be very challenging for IEC and Afghan government to handle.

Manawi also mentioned that equipment required for voter registration could not be dispatched to 14 districts for multiple reasons, saying the issue would be resolved in a couple of days.

Such materials could not be sent to Desho and Baghran districts of southern Helmand, Khak-i-Afghan district of Zabul and Nawa district of Ghazni due to security reasons, he explained.

It is of utmost importance that the registration process must be made speedy and the hindrances should be handled appropriately so that there must not be any delay in elections.

The main goal of the voter registration should be to reach all the remote areas of the country and to knock at almost all the doors so that even the poorest people should have a say in the coming elections. Participation of the people in the election process is basically the beginning of true democratic process.