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CIAO DATE: 10/05
Afghanistan Elections: Endgame or New Beginning?
July 21, 2005
Abstract
Elections for Afghanistan's National Assembly and Provincial Councils are a critical opportunity to achieve a sustainable peace in a country that is still emerging from a quarter century of conflict, created and exacerbated by ethnic, sectarian, regional and linguistic divisions. A representative and functional National Assembly could prove a crucial step in stabilising Afghanistan by allowing diversity of voices in decision-making. Provincial Councils could also help extend the authority of central government by introducing legally approved layers of devolution.
But the September polls will only succeed in stabilising Afghanistan's political transition if the elections are for institutions with properly defined roles and responsibilities; if the electoral system enables a true reflection of popular will; if the election process, including registration and vote counting is properly run; and if overall security is sufficient to allow for as free and fair a contest as possible in a country which still bears the scars of civil war.
