Posts Tagged ‘Afghanistan elections’
Afghanistan Election Runoff - For Whom?
The runoff vote for Afghan Presidential elections has been scheduled for November 7. What is expected to emerge out of this internationally sponsored democratic exercise? Is the runoff an attempt to provide the Afghan people with a truly representative government or does the international community merely want to assert its partnership with the de jure and de facto Government of Afghanistan?
Is Flawed Democracy Better than Any Form of Authoritarianism?
The drama of the Afghanistan Presidential elections is not over yet. The results are expected to create unrest among the supporters of defeated candidates. It remains to be seen how the international community will react to outcome of the elections allegedly marred by reports of fraud and rigging. The political process may be referred to as ‘democratic’ but the quality of democracy and freedom remain doubtful for many.
Hundreds of people could not cast their votes in Zazi Maidan district of southeastern Khost province as the polling stations ran out of ballots papers, voters complained.
The polling station at Lashkar Gah in the Helmand Province was hit by rockets barely five minutes after opening.
In the traditional Afghan society the lack of female officers at the polling stations made it difficult for scores of Afghan women to venture out for voting.
What was surprising to me was the swiftness with which the two candidates- Hamid Karzai and Abdullah Abdullah- claimed victory in the elections. Their assertion of victory is an explicit approval of the election process. The post-result disagreement will not be a disapproval of the democratic process but merely an expression of dislike for the opponent.
There are two faces of the elections in Afghanistan: one that holds that a flawed democracy is better than any form of authoritarianism and the other which emphasize on socio-economic pre-requisites of democracy more than the formal process of voting.
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From Democracy to Campaign Managers: Afghanistan imports everything American
The upcoming Presidential elections in Afghanistan are being closely watched across the globe. From defeating the Taliban in 2001 to cobbling together a “democratic” government for Afghanistan under President Hamid Karzai, the U.S. influence in Afghanistan has been immense. From Greg Morstenson to Richard Holbrooke, Afghanistan has experienced a variety of contributions from the U.S. Now the Presidential elections have another typical American experience to offer: campaign managers. It is not only surprising that Afghanistan, where national election commission will conduct elections for the first time, has so promptly borrowed the Western trend of appointing campaign managers but one such campaign manager is from the U.S. Any guesses?
Presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani has appointed James Carville as his campaign manager; a man who has been to Afghanistan only once!
Here is what James Carveille had to say to Colbert about his new mission.
| The Colbert Report | Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c | |||
| Yes We Afghan - James Carville | ||||
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