Afghanistan Independent Election Commission (IEC) officials have made it clear that there will be no election in polling station where its employees, local and foreign observers and voters do not feel secure. Nonetheless, it has yet to present a list of polling stations it considers insecure.
Security during election has been the greatest concern of the government and the people. Such concerns have multiplied with one-after-another terror attacks in capital Kabul over the past two weeks. No doubt such attacks have their impacts at times when only less than a week is remaining to the Election Day.
Still the number of polling stations that are not considered secure is quite high. Although security officials had said they were not able to arrange for providing security to 414 out of 6,845 polling stations in 11 provinces, the number decreased to 390 when last monthSiddiqueSiddiquithe spokesman for Ministry of Interior announced that 24 more polling stations have been secured. However, it remains unclear how the MoI qualifies any particular polling station as ‘secure’ or ‘insecure.’ When a whole district is under the influence of insurgents, securing only the place where polling station is location holds little importance.
On the other hand, the Taliban have warned they will not spare life of anyone who will participate in the upcoming presidential and provincial council elections scheduled for April 5th. Recent attacks on IEC main and sub offices talk much about their ill intentions. Therefore, risk to lives of employees of IEC, the candidates and even the voters remain high. Needless to mention, previous elections in Afghanistan were accompanied by incidents of terror that cost lives of many Afghan civilians.
Last year security responsibilities of all Afghanistan were transition from International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF). That is deemed a major development in history of Afghanistan. Afghan security forces are responsible for making security arrangements for the upcoming elections. It is hoped they will triumph to counter heinous intentions of insurgents groups including the Taliban.
Nations of the world have given sacrifices for their freedom. Today, Afghanistan is grabbed by terrorists who know nothing of humanity. Afghans have to come forward and use their votes as weapons against these insurgents and support their country move towards a better and democratic future. This path will obviously not be without sacrifices.