Powerful groups and political parties opposed to the government have announced their “electoral union”. Will the coalition be driven by national or personal interest?
Powerful groups and political parties opposed to the government have announced their “electoral union”. Will the coalition be driven by national or personal interest?Political observers agree an alliance must have a national strategy and goal to meet the interests of the country.
Yunus Fakoor, a political analyst, believes there is scepticism about the new coalition. “The political groups and parties have not got to complete political ripeness and most of them are following personal and parties’ interests, not the big and durable trend,” he says.
However, he adds that if the union was to hold then its “planned actions … would be beneficial” because votes would not split among the different groups but go to their joint candidate.
The broad alliance of mainly northern and Jamiati groups includes National Coalition of Afghanistan led by Dr Abdullah Abdullah, National Front of Afghanistan (Ahmad Zia Massoud), Jamiat-e Islami (Salahuddin Rabbani), National Islamic Movement, Green Trend movement and Council of Arab Tribes of Afghanistan.
The coalition held a press conference in Khalij Hall on Aug 29 but did not name a joint candidate for presidential elections scheduled early next year.
Political watchers have commented on the absence of Hanif Atmar of the Right and Justice Right, Qayum Karzai, Zulmai Khalilzad and Ali Ahmad Jalal who were present in the early meetings of the opposition alliance.
Past experience
Mawlawi Abdul Wahab Irfan, a member of the National Assembly, observes that “if past experiences are not repeated there is hope that it (the alliance) would be beneficial (for) unification and Afghan tribes”. If they fail to keep personal interests in check the “coalition will have a negative effect”, he warns.
Ali Ahmad Jalali, a former interior minister who is likely to run for president in the forthcoming poll, feels the electoral union “should be vaster” for greater success.” We advised our friends that the establishment of this type of coalition is good when it gets success but at the same time we are concerned lest this reinforces (a) tribal mentality and people face a negative pressure.”
While coalitions are inevitable they are inherently unstable and cobbled together by members, a point reiterated by Sadullah Ghawsi, a lecturer at Kabul University. “Unions are a matter of expedience, a type of artificial cooperation among previous rivals. For instance in the recent alliance there are pro- and anti-Karzai government elements,” according to Ghawsi.
Political observers are unanimous on one point: a coalition would narrow the numbers of contenders in a race.
Yasin Rasouli, a former diplomat-turned-political analyst, thinks previous experience, when political groups fought on their own, proves the opposition would be more effective in an electoral alliance.
Mohammad Qarabaghi, a writer and analyst, believes leaders in a coalition build linguistic and ethnic relations and spend huge amounts of money on their tribal constituencies. As a result the vote has always been fractured along ethnic and tribal lines, increasing public fear and concerns.
Absent women
Once again women are absent in the new alliance.
Dr Sayed Abdul Qayum Sajjadi, the spokesperson of the National Trust Front, however, claims the situation will change. The Front has invited “many” women to join, but he did not identify anyone.
Zahra Yusufi, a journalist and writer, states women are marginal in politics because of the rigid boundaries drawn by patriarchy. “Social limitations imposed by tradition are a hurdle in the way of women’s entry into politics,” she says. “Unfortunately, even in the last 12 years we have not been able to see any change regarding Afghan women (in politics),” she adds.
