AFGHANISTAN

Afghan presidential election faces formidable obstacles

September 28, 2019

The country faces formidable hurdles when it holds its first presidential election since 2014, but it has a head start on the challenges: the Oct 2018 vote for the lower house of parliament and district councils amounted to a dry run. Incumbent President Ashraf Ghani is widely expected to win a second term, but the Taliban has denounced the polls and says its fighters will do all they can to disrupt the election process.

The Taliban insurgency drags on. The October elections were hit by over 407 Taliban attacks. The insurgents vow to stop the presidential vote, according to their spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahed, in a report by Bloomberg. The news service noted that more than 400 polling centers weren’t able to accept voters due to Taliban threats, malfunctioning biometric devices, a lack of election materials and staff shortages.

The election was initially postponed from April to July to allow more time to fix technical problems that surfaced during the parliamentary vote and to verify voter lists. Officials said they needed more time to train election workers on the biometric identification system that is aimed at reducing fraud. The Afghan authorities introduced new fraud mitigation measures to cut down the risk of ballot stuffing, where one person casts numerous votes. A further postponement to September was blamed on changes to election laws.

The government, election officials and foreign stakeholders now have more experience dealing with such setbacks, and they have much to gain from a credible election. Their collective determination might produce one.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), which helped the Afghan government prepare for the October election, was backed by a group of international donors offering support, ideas and some €100 million. At least the same type and amount of assistance is expected for the September vote. NATO, which offered help in securing the voting in October, is also likely to step up its support.

Reuters reported in Feb 2018 that the Afghan president has offered recognition of the Taliban as a legitimate political group, part of a proposed political process that he said could lead to talks aimed at ending more than 16 years of war. He has suggested that the Taliban take part in the elections.

The last time Afghans went to the ballot box was in 2014, which produced no clear winner between the two main candidates, Ashraf Ghani and Abdullah Abdullah. Both candidates accused each other of massive voter fraud, leading to months of arguments. An eventual deal crafted a government of national unity, with Ghani becoming president and Abdullah taking the position of the newly created position of chief executive.

#22850 Updated: MAR 21 TO MOVE DATE FROM JUL 20 TO SEP 28