The many perils of Afghanistan

As millions brave the odds to cast their ballot in the country’s fourth presidential election

Millions of  Afghans braved the odds to cast their ballot in the country’s fourth and most flawed presidential election, which has the potential to drive the war-torn country into worse chaos.

Saturday’s poll allows President Ashraf Ghani to seek a final five-year term in an overcrowded field of more than a dozen other candidates. The process to elect the next Afghan President has never been smooth nor easy.  And the current election cycle is no exception. Allegations of fraud and misconduct, along with
widespread violence, have dogged the entire voting exercise.

Attacks all over the country have left a dozen people wounded and forced millions to stay at home.  Perhaps that’s what the Taliban wanted.  But despite all the odds, there were two clear winners in the process -- the Afghan people who defied death to cast their vote and the security forces who were able to prevent absolute disruption of the voting process.  However, one unwanted chapter remains unchanged for Afghanistan. The 18 year-long battle with the United States will continue, and so will the cost that Afghans pay every passing day.

The real victory for the Afghan people in this election would be to elect a leader, who unlike the incumbent, is credible, sincerely invested in the peace process, and is willing to flex for the greater good of the nation and the Afghan people.

The current government in Kabul came together after the Obama administration intervened to end the deadlock that surfaced after the last presidential poll. Its legitimacy has waned over the years, and so has its credibility.  And if the outcome of last week’s election is stitched by force or by foreign intervention, there is a significant chance that Afghanistan will plunge into an endless cycle of violence which is not what the Afghan people deserve.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 30^th, 2019.

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