By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan
As vigilant security units take up positions near polling stations across Afghanistan for Saturday’s landmark parliamentary polls, a new generation of Afghan leaders is dreaming of entering the thorny political arena.
According to the country’s Independent Election Commission, there are as many as 2,500 candidates vying for 249 Wolesi Jirga (lower house) seats in the Oct. 20 elections. But a seemingly endless rash of violence has already claimed the lives of 10 candidates in suicide attacks as well as gunfire and bomb blasts.
Preliminary results are expected some three weeks after the election, on Nov. 10, while final results are due by Dec. 20.
Political heirs
Among the Wolesi Jirga hopefuls, many are from among the new generation of former power-brokers, warlords, and ethno-religious leaders aiming to consolidate their self-styed political dynasties in tribal Afghan society.
From the capital Kabul alone, among more than 800 candidates (119 female and 685 male), many are family relatives of prominent Afghan leaders.
They include Habiburrahman Sayyaf, the son of former Mujahedeen leader Abdul Rab Rasoul Sayyaf; Jamaluddin Hekmatyar, the son of Hezb-e-Islami party chief Gulbaddin Hekmatyar; Abdul Razzaq Khalili, the son of High Peace Council head Mohammad Karim Khalili; Mohammad Baqar, son of Mohammad Mohaqiq, deputy chief executive in the current government; and Ahmad Tamim Jurrat, son of Gen. Din Mohammad Jurrat, deputy head of the spy agency, NDS.
Batur Dostum, the son of Vice President Abdul Rasheed Dostum, is competing from their native Jawzjan province for a seat in parliament.
Writer and analyst Atiqur Rehman told Anadolu Agency that the political class in Afghanistan, with its own profile and dynamics, is following the path of other prominent regional politicians.
“They were once heavily influenced by the ideas of Muslim brotherhood and communism, but now ethnocentric and interests-driven polices are being sought in the political arena,” he said.
Rehman cited the Sharif and Bhutto families in Pakistan, the Gandhi family in India, and even the Zia and Wajid families in Bangladesh as models emulated by some Afghan politicians.
Among the women contenders, prominent politicians Fawzia Kofi was once dropped from the final list of candidates for not meeting the criteria, but was later added back to the list.
Zakia Wardak, a female candidate from Kabul, is the sister of a slain Afghan army general, and has promised voters concrete measures to promote justice, peace, and development in Afghanistan.
Fatema Nazari, another leading female candidate from Kabul, told Anadolu Agency that if elected, she would make women’s empowerment a priority.
“I want to see women and girls get educated, and empowered on all levels of society and in the government,” she said.
Lavish campaign spending
Though the electoral commission has set out campaign and spending rules, election observers believe the candidates have broken the monetary limits.
Sughra Sadaat, spokesman for the Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan, told Anadolu Agency they found hundreds of candidates had spent much more on the campaign trail than the rules allowed.
Political analyst Faruqe Basher said many candidates making extravagant campaign promises are ignorant of the Constitution or are simply trying to fool people.
Article 92 of the Constitution clearly says Wolesi Jirga members can only engage in legislation, impeach or approve a minister introduced by the president, decide on development and expenditure budgets, and approve or disapprove appointments, he pointed out.
Get out the vote for delayed polls
From the Kingdom of Afghanistan, the country became a republic following a 1973 coup. Afghanistan has since experimented with communism, a hardline Islamic regime, and democracy.
In the current presidential system of government, the Wolesi Jirga’s main task is making and ratifying laws and approving the actions of the president.
Following the fall of the Taliban, parliamentary elections were held in 2005 and again in 2010. The current parliament’s tenure officially ended three years ago, but the Afghan government failed to hold elections until now.
Due to Thursday’s killing of Gen. Abdul Raziq, the prominent police chief of the southern Kandahar province, the Afghan government has postponed the Wolesi Jirga polls in Kandahar, where up to 112 candidates are competing.
On the eve of the elections, President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani urged the nation to vote.
“I hope Afghans will prove to the world they can successfully complete this important national process, because the enemy is trying hard to hinder the process with heinous attacks,” he said in a televised address.
The election commission has been running an intense motivational campaign under the slogan “Your Vote, Your Future” to encourage up to 9 million registered voters to vote.
