Round The World

New Delhi, 25 August 2009

Polls Amidst Violence

Challenges to Democracy in Afghanistan

By Monish Tourangbam

Research Scholar, School of International Studies, JNU

 
Some bold and intimidating attacks rocked the capital city of Kabul on the eve of the polls in Afghanistan. A few days later, a suicide bomber blew up an explosive-laden car outside the NATO military headquarters in Kabul, a western military convoy was attacked and Taliban rockets targeted the Presidential palace grounds. With these attacks, the Taliban proved that its influence extended well into those places in the capital which were considered secured and fortified. The attacks coming just days before the Afghan polls also showed that the Taliban intended to disrupt the elections. Attacks were also reported from Kandahar in the south and from Baglan and Kunduz in the north. The attacks were scare tactics to create fear among the people on the eve of the presidential and provincial council elections.

Perhaps in a show of support for a functioning democracy in war-torn Afghanistan, people throughout the country came out to vote even though not in large numbers. This happened despite the scare campaign seriously employed by the Taliban. But, reminding of what happened in the Iranian elections, the legitimacy of the Afghan polls is being seriously questioned. If the incumbent President, Hamid Karzai, is criticized for using the government machinery to tilt the tide in his favour, there have been reports of voter registration cards being sold on the streets of Afghan cities and villages. In addition, widespread accounts were reported of ballot-box stuffing, a lack of impartiality among election workers and voters casting ballots for others.

Besides the attacks in Kabul and other parts of Afghanistan, the Taliban increased threats to the people on the eve of the elections. The militia warned the voters in mosques, through leaflets and radio announcements to refrain from voting or to face the consequences. The Taliban would try to subdue any form of challenge to its influence and the election was seen as just another process to further entrench foreign powers in the country.  People in the southern province of Zabul were warned that any finger stained with the indelible ink (used to mark voters) would be cut off. In fact, The Taliban is reported to have cut off the ink-stained fingers of many Afghan voters in insurgency-infested south Afghanistan.

Ahead of the elections, guarding voting sites and securing roads to the polling places had become the top priority for NATO forces. According to a report by Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s (CBC’s) James Murray, "Just a few hours after the suicide bombing struck the front gate of the NATO's compound in Kabul, phone calls and texts were going out across Afghanistan saying: 'Help with the election, help the foreigners, and you'll be next.'” Moreover, Afghans were also warned of dire consequences if they let their properties to be used as polling centers or their trucks for carrying ballot boxes. Burhanuddin Rabbani, a former President, and supporter of presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah also survived an ambush by the Taliban.

Women voters were a major victim of the scare, intimidation and widespread violence, resulting notably in their low-turnout.  Women voters, indeed, seemed to have borne the major brunt as a result of the extremist views of society professed by the Taliban. Apart from the Taliban strongholds where polling stations remained closed, women also suffered discrimination and intimidation in some places in central and northern Afghanistan. In a post-election statement, the European Union observer mission said, “The disproportionate effects of poor security conditions, widespread cultural opposition to women in public life and a number of attacks clearly aimed at deterring women’s activities, all created significant obstacles.”

Around 225 allegations of irregularities in Afghanistan’s elections have been lodged, including tampering with ballot boxes, intimidation of voters especially by powerful candidates in the provinces and failures of supposedly indelible ink meant to prevent people from voting twice. The low turn-out in the turbulent south has also raised doubts over the validity and legitimacy of the elections.

The western donors to Afghanistan were skeptical of ethnic chieftains and former militia leaders, endorsing Karzai’s candidature, including the likes of General Abdul Rashid Dostum (former Uzbek militia leader) and Ismail Khan (a Tajik former Mujahidin commander from the western city of Herat) who have been accused of serious human rights violations. If Karzai’s strategy is to trade-off portfolios in the government in exchange for these warlords delivering large chunks of votes, alarm bells should be ringing. Recall that factional fighting between the powerful warlords after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union in 1989 ravaged the country and led it to a downward spiral.

After the polls, both the incumbent Hamid Karzai and the primary challenger Abdullah Abdullah claimed to be ahead in early vote counting. Election officials have called on the candidates to refrain from claims which could unnecessarily hinder the formation of a new government. With violence rampant, the least that Afghanistan needs is further uncertainty over the poll results, which could give fodder to a civil unrest. Dan McNorton, a spokesman for the UN mission in the country, commented, “The acceptance of the results from the top candidates and their supporters is absolutely vital.”

Prolonging the process of electing leaders could be a burden on a war-torn country like Afghanistan, battling for a semblance of reconstruction. For countries involved in reconstruction efforts which have been seriously impeded by a full-blown insurgency, the elections held importance. The success of the second general elections since 9/11 could prove that the road to reconstruction had encountered speed-breakers but not a dead- end.

Afghanistan is surely a difficult country to deal with. It has often been called the graveyard of empires. After the Obama administration decided to increase troops in Afghanistan, parallels were drawn to what the U.S. faced in Vietnam. . After the fall of the Taliban, the then-US President George W. Bush announced that the goal in Afghanistan was “to build a flourishing democracy as an alternative to a hateful ideology.” Since then, billions of dollars have been spent and U.S. has encountered large casualties. 

But, the new Obama administration has struggled to structure a coherent policy that will deliver an effective and respectable bail-out from the Afghan quagmire. The Taliban is resurgent and is actively pursuing its goal of overhauling the society with its fundamentalist ideas and bleeding the foreign forces in Afghanistan. The rampant drug-trade also threatens to make Afghanistan a narco-state. It is believed that the flow of the drug money has been helping finance the Taliban insurgency and has led to substantial government corruption.

The geo-strategic importance of Afghanistan is immense, raising the stakes for the international community and India. Afghanistan and Pakistan are considered the epicenter of international terrorism. It is crucial to neutralize the influence of Pakistan in the region and maintain peace and stability. Since 2001 when the Taliban was ousted and the Shimla-educated Karzai came to power, India has invested heavily in the reconstruction of the country. In the final analysis, a democratic Afghanistan with a severely stunted Taliban would serve India’s interests. ---INFA

(Copyright, India News and Feature Alliance)