With the beginning of election campaign, we can see and feel the heated efforts of candidates to be more active and win more and more public recognition and support. Billboards have been filled with their election mottos and photographs. Brochures are being distributed while every candidate is busy in addressing public gatherings and party meetings. All these show that this year’s presidential elections are going to be the most tense and edgy.

On Tuesday, all the candidates took part in a debate similar to the one practiced in different advanced nations of the world. These debates are held in an environment where all the necessary skills needed for this critical position are thoroughly assessed. These debates are telecasted live and people see the actual talents and skills of the candidates. The debate was also telecasted live on a television channel and it was viewed by most of the Afghans. All the candidates were given with the opportunity to present their plans and projects about the country and their ideas for solving the problems of the country.

All these are pleasing and give a new ray of hope for the peaceful and democratic transition of power in the country. The more democratic practices are supported continued, more the democratic system and its different organs get strong and as a result, there prevails peace, prosperity and overall development in the country. The situation is very dramatic and unbelievable comparing to the times when different parties used to kill each other and gun and power was thought the only powerful weapon to snatch or hold power. These parties started their bloody practices when King Zahir Shah fled the country and they were present in one form or other till the present democratic setup.

Such practices are also good in a sense that they are also changing the overall mindset of the nation. Our nation passed through many decades of war and conflict and majority of our people have become accustomed to this habit of snatching and ruling by using force and intimidation. Last ten years were critical in a sense that people got seasoned to respect and practice democratic practices. Same spirit of democratic practices can also be seen in the present election campaigns. No doubt, there would be so many factors against the true spirit of democracy but anyhow, we cannot expect perfection in just a decade and the wounds of four decades cannot be healed so soon. The democratic tone and style of our candidates are worth praising and we hope that they will try to appear as more polite on their public appearance so that the overall image of the country should be made better in the eyes of the world.