Presidential Poll: Reading the mind of voters
People voted in two rounds of presidential elections last year. The outcome has led to a national unity government, a partnership between the two candidates. Killid polled some 80 voters in four eastern provinces to get a better understanding of what drives voting. Is it tribal and linguistic affiliations or election promises?
While there is widespread understanding in the four provinces of Laghman, Nangarhar, Kunar and Nuristan that people have the right to vote, in many cases there is little awareness of how to exercise the right.
Ali Noor Mohammad is a resident of Laghman province. He describes himself as a supporter of Qayyum Karzai, older brother of the former president who was a presidential candidate. However, when Karzai pulled out of the presidential race, Mohammad says he was at a loss.
Abdullah from Wanwaigal district of Nuristan province has never voted. He says, “Elections are held in our district but the villagers do not participate in it.” According to him, the Taleban who always boycott elections, do not “permit” people to participate. In the last elections for president, “the Taleban had blocked all the ways in the district and they did not permit the people to participate in elections.” But Abdullah makes another point. He says, “Even if the roads were not blocked, few villagers would have cast their vote because no work has been done to raise public awareness and the propaganda of the Taleban is more compelling for the villagers.”
Mohamadullah Enqelabi of the Youths’ Council believes the decision to vote is personal but accepts that there are tribal, nationalistic and linguistic influences on the voter. “We and the Youths’ Council decided that we would deploy our votes as Afghans,” he says about voting in the elections.
Many voters are aware that voting can be strategic and also manipulated by leaders to favour the candidate of their choice.
Sangar Rahmani from Kunar supported Dr Abdullah’s Reform and Partnership team in the last election. He does not want to name anyone but claims he knows of tribal leaders who supported a candidate in order to make money. “Some tribal leaders supported a candidate for monetary considerations – (as a result) conflicts arose among village leaders,” he says.
Haji Mohammad Jan was a supporter of the opposing team of Change and Continuity, led by Ashraf Ghani. He says that many like him became supporters of Ghani on hearing him speak at meetings. “He seemed a bit like a scholar,” he says, “so we thought of him as an elder, (someone who) would fear God. We joined him.”
He denied that tribal leaders were given money by candidates to support them. “No one has given us money. Those who should be asked that question are those that are circulating these rumours,” says Haji Mohammad Jan.
Many strategies were used by both teams for campaigning. Malak Zafar, the representative for Abdullah’s team from the 4th District in Jalalabad City, says, “We appealed to tribal connections or if someone was a friend. Since I am related to a mujahedin family, I chose to support Abdullah.” Abdullah who is chief executive in the present national unity government, was a mujahedin doctor.
The pro-Ghani Zabihullah Zmarai who is a member of the Nangarhar provincial council, blames Afghanistan’s problems on leaders who kept the country at war for 40 years. “The leader of the Change and Continuity team (read Ghani) was a man of scientific temperament, well-read, with plans for the country’s future,” he says. “I am among Afghans who want an end to the war; educate our youth and try to build a better future.”
Mawlawi Omar Farooq from Nuristan province is conservative but he is not swayed by fanaticism. A supporter of the Reform and Partnership team, he considers Abdullah a “servant” to the nation and from the pulpit of the mosque, he encouraged people to vote for him. “We have supported the candidate who is servant to homeland and Islam. He does not subscribe to fanaticism, and appeals to villages.”
Meanwhile, Mohammad Hashem who is a member of a tribal council and a resident of Laghman, says he is happy that the transfer of power from Karzai to Ghani followed the law of the land. Asked why he had supported Ghani, he said it was because he was a “learned” man.
Tribal alliances
Jamaludin, another member of the tribal council in Laghman province and a jihadist commander, first came out in support of Zalmai Rassoul, foreign minister from 2010 to 2013, and later used the 2,800 votes of his Dari-speaking tribes people in the Pashtun Ghani’s support. Linguistic solidarity was not a consideration in his case.
Abdul Hadi Asem, lecturer in the agriculture faculty in Nangarhar University, who was a member of Abdullah’s Reform and Partnership team, admits linguistic and tribal affiliations are strong in the province.
Ghani supporter in Kunar, Haji Mohammad Hashem, believes this is true in every province. “None of us saw Ghani but we were told he was a good man,” he says. “Of course we knew he was Pashtu. Linguistic affinity had a big role in the election,” he reflects.
However, there are those who think otherwise. Mawlawi Ehsanullah Omari from Nuristan province who voted for Abdullah’s team rubbishes the idea. “Thank God tribal and linguistic links do not play a role. Are people partisan? I can say that people are linked by their experience of jihad and resistance,” he says.
A leader of the Safi tribe in Nangarhar who was pro-Change and Continuity while not rejecting the importance of ethnicity in the election says his choice was decided by a promise to “eliminate corruption”. “We contacted our tribal leaders in 22 provinces, and used our votes in support of Change and Continuity,” the man who did not want to be identified says.
From random interviews with people in four provinces, it appears tribal elders and leaders arranged transport for voters on polling day. In Laghman, voters were paid reportedly in Pakistani rupees to vote according to the instructions given to them.
Shamsul Rahman who cast his vote in support of the Change and Continuity team says, “As well as food, transportation costs were paid to villagers. This was between 500-2000 Pak rupees (5 and 20 USD).” He is disappointed that after all the fuss over the election, little has improved in the country.
Campaign expenses
There is little transparency on campaign expenses, which all agree was huge. Did the money come from the central funds of candidates or were they donations from local volunteers? Rival sides have traded charges of gross overspending and misutilisation of funds, both hard to prove without evidence.
Malek Atatullah Khan, provincial head of the Jamait Islami in Laghman who campaigned for the Reform and Partnership team says, “The money we spent on the election was provided by Jamait Islami provincial office. I did not get additional money, and if I am asked, I am ready to show my accounts.”
Abdul Ahad Khan, tribal leader in Laghman who first supported Qutbudin Helal and then joined the Change and Continuity team says, “Some 250,000 Afs (4,360 USD) were given to our campaign office. I still owe money to a bakery, wood and gas sellers – between 160,000 and 170,000 Afs (2,793 and 2,968 USD).”
Should there be a ceiling on campaign funds? Malek Hasan Khan, leader of Khogiani tribe in Nangarhar province who supported Ghani, does not think so. “It would be hard to monitor such a law considering how laws are regularly trampled on in the country,” he says.
Follow TKG on Twitter & Facebook