The end of election process over the reports of death destruction, intimidation, vote-rigging, fraud and even cutting the fingure's of the voters needs a bit of pondering.. The pre election brazen suicide attack by Taliban, which killed eight at NATO's headquarters, did not deter the democratic election process.
The low turnout of the voter's, reflects that more than half of the population is not a part of this process. The results, which are expected to be declared soon, will announce the winning candidate. The winner President will have the support of less than quarter of the over-all population. Like previous elections the ethnic background has come into play in this election too.
There are also instances of proxy voting and biased elections workers. The efforts of the foreign troops and the election observers to lead the country into a credible democratic process should not be undermined. The voters were also wary of the situation and felt that their vote will hardly matter. They were assured of the same old faces and the continuation of the corruption and cronyism.
Whoever wins the election, in-order to make the country a better place he needs to be more dynamic and should take radical steps to provide security and the services to the common man. A vast majority of the country's population is illiterate and lacks common amenities. No doubt Afghans are the tough people and are not afraid of fighting for a cause. The years of battle has almost destroyed the entire infrastructure. The mines have killed many and maimed many, who find difficult to get the medical aid. Many have been orphaned and homeless. They have and are becoming easy victims of abuse.
The problem of drugs and money is one of the major problems of this region and it has flourished during the regime of Hamid Karzai. Illegal money creates war lords, who control various regions with the support from their ethnic groups. The rivals are usually at loggerheads with one another; this has lead to the easy availability of weapons, used in killings.
The current process of democratization looks too crude. It is a type of pre-historic democracy and still in its evolutionary phase. In earnestness this process must continue after the leaving of the foreign troops from Afghanistan. There is a possibility of the country getting into chaos at the earliest opportunity. The women empowerment is still a pipe dream. Few beauty saloons in the city and participation of few women athletes may not bring about the freedom and empowerment of the women as the western world wants to see. The average people are highly religious and the holy month of Ramadan has a very high significance. One of the major concern is that Dr. Abdullah Abdullah the strong contender to the Presidential position has made pre-emptive allegations of fraud and rigging. The declaration of result should not put Karzai in the Ahmadinejad's position Hope the results of the elections and the blessed month of Ramadan brings about peace and credible democracy to the country.
Mohammed Sadullah Khan is a Faculty Member and a Freelance writer based in Riyadh and can be contacted at mosakhan40@gmail.com.
