No Election Fever in Rural Afghanistan

Troop numbers are being boosted in Afghanistan to ensure fair and safe elections next month.

But for Jandan Spinghar, the head of the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan (FEFA), the country’s only independent organisation for observing elections, the help is coming far too late.

“They will not be able to make a secure environment for the people to vote freely,” he says, adding that often the Taliban return to areas from which they have been removed to punish those who supposedly helped the international troops, when these have returned to their bases.

“This time, the Taliban have warned people in the southern provinces that those who participate in the elections will be punished,” Spinghar says.

The fact that they use indelible ink that remains visible for up to two weeks means the Taliban can easily detect who has voted or not.

“This is why some people will not be happy to participate in the election in the south.”

No active Taliban, no troops and no resources

In the province of Daikundi, a two-day jeep drive from Kabul, children attend school in the open air. No troops protect them. The province borders the volatile Helmand province in the south but here there are no NATO, US or Afghan troops. Nor are the Taliban active here.

Locals complain that the government and international community do not help them just because there’s peace and no poppy fields. They think that Helmand is somewhat being rewarded with funds for reconstruction despite the warlords, terrorists and poppy farming.

An old farmer on a donkey is angry: “I’m not going to vote,” he says. “The government doesn’t do anything for us. I am a farmer. Should I feed myself with earth and dust?“

Women are sometimes exchanged for cows, goats or sheep

There is so much poverty in Daikundi that sometimes fathers feel obliged to sell their daughters.

Sumaya, who is now on the local council, was married off at the age of 15 against her will. “As a Muslim,” she says, “I also refer to our prophet and the Koran, who say that the rights of men and women are the same. We are trying to promote our rights and bring about change. Nowhere should women be sold or given in exchange for cows, goats, sheep or other animals.”

Sumaya also says that Karzai’s Western-backed government has been of no help. Corruption has grown under his watch. She doubts things will get better if he is re-elected.

Although Daikundi is not in the grip of the Taliban, it is in the grip of a militia leader, whose men still have their weapons with which they intimidate people. They even run private jails.

“It’s difficult to fight the warlords in the region especially as they are supported by those in power in Kabul,” says Reza Rezai, Bandar’s new chief of police. “I try to clamp down on them where possible. I have been here for two months. I’ve conducted investigations. But we lack everything here. There isn’t even a stable phone connection to Kabul.“

Author: Martin Gerner/Anne Thomas
Editor: Thomas Bärthlein