28 October 2004
Afghan Election Marks Turning Point in Country's History
Observers cite new momentum in the democratic process in Afghanistan
By David Shelby
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- The Afghan presidential election was an important milestone in Afghanistan's political development, according to Kabul University Professor of Law and Political Science Wadir Safi.
"The act of elections was itself democratic," Safi said in a recent interview. He said that even though there were technical problems with the balloting in some areas, the important thing, at this point, is that people were given the opportunity to vote.
According to Safi, the Afghans embraced this opportunity with enthusiasm. "The masses of people from every ethnic group were jumping towards the ballot box," he said, "and the main reason for this is the 25 years' oppression, living in fear, and not being asked about what is happening in the state and in the country."
He said the majority of Afghans viewed the October 9 election as an opportunity to close the book on a dark period in Afghanistan's history and move toward a more promising future. "They thought that by putting this card in the ballot box, each one of the guns will be broken," he said.
U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad offered a similar assessment of Afghanistan's recent step toward democracy. "In Afghanistan, the elections have clearly shown that given the chance, the people will support democratic political development," he said during an October 27 speech in Washington.
The ambassador also said that this process spells the end of warlord control over the country. He said that democracy will empower those who seek to serve the people and not those who seek to exploit and abuse the people. Khalilzad predicted that as long as Afghanistan maintains its current momentum through the 2005 parliamentary elections, "we will see an end to the reign of warlords and militias by this time next year."
Professor Safi confirmed that the warlords do not enjoy popular support, even among the people they claim to represent. "They are appointing themselves as the military representatives of either Pashtuns or Hazaras, but the masses of these ethnic groups, they don't like them... And these are not their representatives," he said.
Safi also observed that most Afghans did not vote based on their ethnic identities. He said there were areas in the provinces where warlords tried to control the votes, but by and large, most Afghans were more interested in what the different candidates had to offer.
According to Khalilzad, the campaign process provided a lesson in nation-building. "To be competitive nationally, Afghan candidates from one region or ethnic group had to recruit staff and make their case in other regions and before citizens of other ethnicities," he said. He added that the most successful candidates were those who reached out across ethnic lines.
Professor Safi said that the current president, Hamid Karzai, appears to have won a large majority of the vote, but he added that Karzai's true test begins now. He said that the Afghans have high expectations regarding the government that Karzai will appoint. They want him to choose cabinet officials who are professionals in their fields and legitimate public servants rather than well-connected politicians, Safi said, and if he fails to do this, it will be the end of his political career.
Ambassador Khalilzad said that Afghanistan is unique among developing countries. "In the rest of the developing world, the people should follow their leaders, who are more educated and more experienced," he said. "In Afghanistan, the leaders should follow the people." He said that the country's years of oppression, civil war and extremism have given its people "a deep and worldly wisdom."
He added, "They know what they want: a moderate, democratic state and society in which they can live with their families in peace, security and prosperity."
(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
| Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list |
|
|
|
