"Key to Afghanistan's future stability will be a credible and inclusive presidential election in 2014, followed by a constitutional transfer of power. President Karzai has repeatedly affirmed his commitment to a peaceful, constitutional transition of power at the end of his second term," James B Cunningham, who has been designated as US ambassador to Afghanistan, said before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Tuesday, July 31.
He also emphasized, "All Afghans, whatever their gender, ethnicity or religion, have much to gain from a successful political transition, and the United States is committed to working with international partners to support the Afghans as they choose their next leader." It is really important for Afghanistan to have a comparatively fairer and free election in 2014. The future of political stability and that of the political system largely depends on the election as it is one of the basic processes for the true democratization of the system.
Though there are many processes that are necessary for the political development in Afghanistan, the 2014 election, at the moment, is considered the top priority matter. What will be the nature of the election and how it is going to be conducted will to a large extent decide the political scenario in post-2014 Afghanistan.
Elections have very decisive role in the democratic political systems. The regularity and transparency of elections provide a strong footing to the pillars of democracy. Unfortunately, the political system of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan has certain disadvantages in this regard. There have not been a very rich history of regular elections in Afghanistan and the ones that have been carried out have not been comprehensive enough.
Though there are many other factors as well that will be influencing the 2014 elections, security will, as usual, remain a big challenge. Jan Kubis, United Nations envoy to Afghanistan ensured earlier this year that UN will definitely support the country's electoral authorities to ensure the sustainability, integrity and inclusiveness of future polls.
However, the January 2012 selection of five supporters of the President as new commissioners of the Independent Election Commission and the government's efforts to keep the international community distant from the process raised certain controversies and doubts.
It is a crystal clear fact that Afghan political system needs extra care, concentration and honest efforts for its improvement. So, the Afghan authorities, especially the Afghan President himself must strive to strengthen the pillars of democracy in the country and make all the possible efforts to hold a historical and exemplary election in 2014.
On the other hand, Western allies must put pressure and provide assistant so that the 2014 election must be held on time and must not have the drawbacks that were present in 2009 Presidential elections. It must be made sure that improvements are brought in the polling systems that can help the people of Afghanistan participate without complications in the elections and have their true representatives in parliament.
In addition efforts should be carried out to introduce improvements in the arbitration system and voter registrations. The computerized identity cards should be started as soon as possible and the registrations should be made computerized. Government must also motivate and facilitate people thoroughly so that maximum number of people participates in elections and the turn out should be satisfactory. Independent Election Commission (IEC) of Afghanistan must also make sure that it carries out the necessary measures before the election is conducted.
It is important to note that a consultative meeting was held between Independent Election Commission (IEC) and different political parties on July 18, in Kabul. The purpose of the meeting was to highlight some of the basic problems in election system and listen to suggestions regarding the improvements in the process and pave the way for the 2014 elections. The meeting was the first of its kind and must be appreciated as it had the intention of dealing with the problems of election collectively and in consultation with different political parties.
However, there is a huge gap between what is intended and what is achieved. The important thing in the present scenario in Afghanistan is that practical steps must be carried out, not mere promises. Above all, the rampant corruption must not be allowed by the Afghan government and the supporting countries and organizations to ruin the elections, as it has influenced most of the institutions in the country.
There have been efforts and pressure from international community to reduce corruption from Afghan society and there have been promises by Afghan authorities on certain occasions, yet the Jinni of corruption is at large, which has led the international community believe that their assistance, which they manage within controversies at home, is not used appropriately.
Cunningham in his speech, mentioned above, also talked of his commitment to ensure the transparent and wise use of the assistance money. He said, "I will also continue to make every effort to ensure that the assistance which the American people have so generously provided is used wisely and effectively, with the maximum degree of confidence that it is serving the intended purpose".
Afghan authorities, no doubt, need to launch a comprehensive movement to reduce corruption and make the international community believe on their intentions for progress. They must also make sure that they play a tremendous role in shielding the coming election from the menace of corruption and make sure that transparency is maintained as much as possible.
A part from the transparency of elections and the factors mentioned above, there are some other issues as well that have been playing dominant role in making the election system suffer from inadequacy. The issues like the absence of a party system elections and an incompetent voting system have influenced the elections to a great extent.
It is really important that the government authorities along with the international community and organizations must also have a thorough look at these issues as well. Moreover, the split-elections system that supports holding the presidential elections separately from the parliamentary elections have large influence on the overall elections budget. If the elections are conducted one after the other immediately, the elections expenditure can be minimized to a considerable extent.