Guest post by Richard O'Hara. Richard is a Second Secretary, Political, at the British Embassy in Washington, focussing on Afghanistan and Pakistan. He has been in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office since 2004, and was posted to Afghanistan during 2007 and 2008. Most recently, Richard was on secondment to the US Department of State for nine months, working on their Afghanistan Desk.
All Afghan-watchers know that on 20 August, Afghans take to the polls to vote for their next President. On 5 August, British Ambassador to Afghanistan Mark Sedwill gave a briefing to the media about the build up to the elections. The UK, and the wider international community, has been focusing on helping create a level playfield for all the candidates, and assisting the Afghans to ensure that these elections are credible, secure and inclusive. These elections are an opportunity for Afghans to choose their next leadership. They also represent a chance to reflect on the last eight years in Afghanistan, and to look ahead to the future. After the 2004 Presidential elections, then the 2005 Parliamentary and Provincial Council elections, these are the third national-scale elections in Afghanistan since 2001 and, for the first time, the elections will be run by the Afghans themselves.
41 Afghans registered to run in the presidential election and although a few have dropped out along the campaign trail, it remains a packed field. The main figures are well known, but apart from Karzai, Abdullah and Ghani, the others include a healthy and diverse mixture of Members of Parliament, ex-Cabinet Ministers, businessmen and even former members of the Taliban. Campaign rallies have been seen across the country, walls and billboards have been festooned with colourful candidate posters, and many candidates have participated in radio and TV debates.
But conducting these elections will be a challenge. History has shown us that the second set of elections in post-conflict countries are often the most difficult, and violence has increased in Afghanistan since the last elections in 2004 and 2005. Efforts by Afghan and International forces have focused on providing sufficient security to enable as many Afghans as possible to cast their vote. The recent increase in fighting in Helmand has, in great part, been about giving more of the local population the opportunity to access polling stations safely (up to 30% more of the Helmand population are now free from Taliban control than was the case two months ago). Yes these elections will look rather different from what we saw here in 2008, but this is democracy in the Afghan context - and that is something we should all support. No-one can argue against our strong, collective desire to allow ordinary Afghans a say in the way their affairs are run.
Posted at 15:53 07 August 2009 by Simon Shercliff | Comments[0]
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