Dispatch from Kabul on the Afghan Presidential Race

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I arrived in Kabul on on May 1st to work with the non-profit for which I volunteer and am president, Afghans4Tomorrow. It has taken me a couple of days to adjust to the 12 hour time difference (actually 11 1/2) and I am not sure I am quite there yet. But I feel good enough to start posting diaries to let everyone know what I am learning from Afghans about what they want from us and what their life is like here in Kabul. (I doubt I will be able to post pictures, but will post a big photo diary when I return. The internet here is dreadfully slow, and I failed in uploading pictures after several tries.)

For my first dispatch: Afghan Politics

Afghan politics are likely as strange as any, but the people here still believe in them (51%* believe they bring freedom, 34%* think democracy brings peace) while at the same time 79%* think the government does not care about people like them.

The presidential elections are coming up in August. So far they have many people who will likely run, as many as 60! The deadline to register is in two days.

I have been told they do something that I think is just wrong for any democracy. Once they register to run, they get PAID to do so! Not much I am told, but still, this is not good in my book. No wonder so many want to run despite having no chance of winning.

Also, despite trying to please many groups, Karzai is not very popular. No one I have spoken to yet wants him to win, but they all assume he will, one way or another. They are angry at the corruption in his government, the fact he has warlords who have committed horrific crimes in his government, and the fact he has failed to get the US to stop bombing civilians and failed to get more aid money spent in Afghanistan (versus paying foreign ‘consultants’ hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that they spend back home, not in Afghanistan!).

Another thing. If I understood correctly, after the voting is done, the horse trading begins. They do not have a runoff system, but can give their votes to another candidate. (I assume for $$) I need to get this clarified, but it sounds like the election may end up being fixed in the long run if this is true.

The chairwoman of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission, Sima Simar, said that there are great fears of voter fraud. For example in one district, 72% of those registered are women, which is just not logically possible.

It is not legal for someone to register another person, but in some areas the men have registered their wives, and some likely voted for them with the wink of an eye of the local manning the polling place in the last election. Though massive fraud was not discovered during the last election.

“Two issues are of concern for me. First is that the right of the woman to cast her vote will not be given to her, and the second is that it’s possible that there will be serious fraud in the election by this method,” Samar said.

I think her concerns are warranted after speaking with Afghans here about this.

On top of all that, a top UN official in Afghanistan, Kai Eide, called for the Taliban to participate in the August presidential election. The idea is it would help ‘negotiations’ with them. So far the Taliban are not interested.

But there may be some good news. After much pressure from inside and outside the country it appears Karzai has agreed to amend the horrible law passed (in order to appeal to and get votes from Shia men) requiring women to have sex on demand and get permission to leave their homes.

We shall see. Khuda Hafiz (goodbye) from Kabul for now. More tomorrow night.

*A survey of the Afghan People, 2007 by the Asia Foundation.

Note: My organization is NOT involved in politics in the US or Afghanistan and do not work with either government. These opinions are my own and do not represent the views of Afghans4Tomorrow.