Afghanistan’s election troubles

The deadlock between presidential candidates must be resolved so attention can be diverted to more pressing issues.

Troubles in Afghanistan never end. In another twist in the beleaguered election process, Afghan presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah said he would reject the outcome of the run-off election, the preliminary results of which were due on July 2. The election commission announced that the results will be delayed as votes from about 2,000 polling stations in 30 provinces will be reviewed and recounted. This is a positive development particularly since Abdullah had earlier announced that he no longer considered the Independent Election Commission and the Election Complaints Commission as legitimate institutions for he felt his grievances were not being addressed. His rival Ashraf Ghani’s camp is claiming that they are comfortably ahead, but such premature claims have only added insult to injury. Demonstrations are being held and many fear this confrontation could potentially simmer into ethnic tensions.

Though there might be legitimate grievances that had been overlooked, to completely discredit these crucial institutions could derail not only the democratic process, but could also incite violence among candidate supporters. The best way forward is to work within the system. Agitation by candidates and their supporters could also play into the hands of the insurgents, who would benefit from discrediting democracy. Afghanistan has daunting challenges ahead, one of which will be inherited by whoever becomes the next president — how to keep the Afghan economy afloat and to convince the international community to continue to fund it. Afghanistan needs money to pay its soldiers, police, teachers and doctors, among others –– who up until now have largely depended on foreign donors. Minus this crucial element a nightmarish situation could emerge — desertions due to non-payment of salaries. We know from Iraq’s recent experience how desertion can tailspin the entire state into chaos. The current deadlock must be resolved so that attention can be diverted to more pressing issues. This is the only way Afghan leaders can return the favour to the electorate.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2014.

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