Do people understand the importance of voting? What factors influence their decision to vote? Killid polled people on the street to find answers to these and many other questions including if voters really knowthe candidates in the electoral fray.
Do people understand the importance of voting? What factors influence their decision to vote? Killid polled people on the street to find answers to these and many other questions including if voters really knowthe candidates in the electoral fray.Mohammad Ali from Baghlanis sure he will cast his vote “but I don’t know whether a just person would come or not (as president).” He feels voters are “subjects, and cannot do anything. We can only vote.” He also confides that he does not whom he will vote for but hopes that by election day he will “know one of the candidates”.
Kabul-resident Engineer Mohammad Naqib thinks everyone should participate in the elections. He hopes the candidate he selects “would accomplish the tasks of a president”. According to Naqib, the job of a president is to “ensure security for Afghans, meet their wishes, and have good programmes”.
A woman voter from Darul Aman, Kabul, was asked why she voted. “We are voting only because we want our country to be secure, and work for all our people,” she said, but she did not want to be identified. In her opinion it would not be right to elect a president who is opposed to the country’s development.
Razia from Kabul thinks the president should be a “commoner”. Someone who is from among the people and lives among them. “The people would cooperate with such a president,” she feels.
Ghulamullah from Badakhshan thinks it is every Afghan’s duty to vote. “Since we are living in this country we should vote,” he says. But Mohammad Aqa says he cannot trust any of the candidates in the fray, and won’t be voting.
Naqibullah, a resident of Kandahar, wants to vote for a candidate who will build Afghanistan. “All people should participate; administrative corruption should be eliminated. If not Afghanistan will be in ruins,” he warns.
Parwana from Jaghatoo district in Ghazni province knows whom she will vote for. “The candidate I know will fulfill all my expectations,” she says. According to her, a president has many tasks. “He should think of how he can serve people … Security is an important concern,” she adds.
This random selection of interviews with Afghan voterswho are literate and have access to the media reveals a relative awareness of the importance of elections.
Missing the women
The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has sent trainers to all provinces to raise awareness ahead of the April provincial and presidential elections. Zia-ul-haq Amarkhail, the head of the IEC secretariat, told the media some 1,500 trainers have been dispatched to organise meetings and workshops with religious authorities, tribal elders and civil society organisations. Also there are hoardings and advertisements in public interest on TV and radio urging voters to cast their vote.
However, Dr Ruhullah Amin, a political scientist,thinks the IEC could have done more to raise public awareness considering how much more preparation time it had than during previous elections.
According to reports from remote areas where people have no idea of the value of their votes, candidates bent on rigging the poll have forcibly taken election cards. The Transparent Election Foundation of Afghanistan (TEFA) alleges the cards will be misused.
Also TEFA spokesperson Fahim Nayimi thinks the IEC has failed to target women in remote areas. He told Radio Azadi, “The process would have been more effective if female trainers hadraised awareness among women on the importance of the polls.”
Habibullah Helmandi, a civil society activist from Daikundi province, blames the IEC for sensitising urban voters more than women in villages. Female voters have been largely ignored. “All the projects have been implemented in cities, and ineffectively. It seems to me the people, specifically women, don’t know about the elections. Their votes would be misused for sure,” he says.
Meanwhile campaigning is on in full swing. Candidates are trying hard to get voters out on election day through spots on TV and posters.
Missing issues
Butdo voters know the candidates? Probably not.
“No write-ups or manifestos of candidates have been issued,” says Asef Ashna, a political analyst and member of the Truth and Justice Party. “There are candidates who aren’t familiar with electoral rules,” he adds.
TEFA points to the absence of electoral campaigning and public awareness drives by the IEC in some districts.
Saboor Nezami, a student of law in Mazar-e-Sharif thinks TEFA is right. “TV ads or slogans on posters and billboards are not effective as public awareness raising tools. They can only mobilise people to go to voting booths,” he says. According to Nezami, people have little information to make an informed choice on election day.
Surveys by TEFA reveal low public awareness both about elections and constitutional rights.
Mohammad Nayeem Ayubzada, director of TEFA, identified lack of security and low level of awareness as the two “most important concerns” ahead of elections next month. In addition, there is also concern over the participation of “some” government officials in campaigning, and poor mobilisation among women, he adds.
On March 15, President Hamid Karzai who promised officials will not meddle in the election, accused the media of being partisan.
