Even though there are several processes and factors that are necessary for the political development in Afghanistan, the 2014 election, currently, is thought to be the matter of utmost importance. What will be the nature of the election and how it is going to be conducted will, to a large extent, decide the political circumstance in Afghanistan after 2014. Elections, without any doubt, have very significant role in the democratic political systems.
The regularity and transparency of elections offer a strong traction to the pillars of democracy. Ill-fatedly, the political system in Afghanistan has certain drawbacks in this regard. There have not been a very rich history of regular elections in Afghanistan and the ones that have been conducted have not been transparent and comprehensive enough.
Afghan political system needs extra care, attention and sincere efforts for its development. So, the Afghan authorities, particularly the Afghan President himself must attempt to build up the pillars of democracy in the country and formulate all the possible efforts to hold a historical and exemplary election in 2014.
Emphasizing the same opinion President Hamid Karzai on Sunday, Sept. 15, once again emphasized that presidential and provincial council elections will be held on time – 2014. He, in his address in Presidential Palace, said, “We’ll definitely hold the polls, which augur well for Afghanistan. Retaining power without elections will raise questions about the system’s legitimacy.”
Earlier President Hamid Karzai had said in an interview to an Indian daily, “A delay of a few weeks may be. But avoiding the election — no way! I’d like a new set-up. Any election is better than no election. We cannot delay elections for security considerations…”
It is important that the schedule for elections must be followed, but at the same time it is also important that all efforts should be made to make the process transparent and participatory. More than verbal commitments, practical measures are more important at this stage as there is not much time remaining for the elections.
In order to make elections participatory it is vital that security situation should be controlled so that people from all parts of the country are able to cast their votes. At the same time, it must be ensured that women participate actively in the elections; otherwise, it would be very difficult to guarantee the protection of their due rights.
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) on Monday, Sept. 16, also emphasized that the women must participate in elections in order to make elections more reliable and fruitful. IED head for Herat, Ahmad Zia Zia, in a public awareness conference, disclosed that out of 70,000 people who got voter cards in early June, 38 percent were women. However, he hoped that the percent may increase to 50 percent as women formed half of the total populations. He also said that without their participation elections would have not legitimacy.
In the patriarchal Afghan society, where most of the decisions are made by men, it is important that women must participate both as candidates and as voters in a large number so that they are able to influence the most vital political decision in the country and Afghan authorities and the people of Afghanistan have to make this possible.