AFGHANISTAN ELECTION 2014.

The first round of counting is over and the contest
seems to be between Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf
Ghani to become the next President of Afghanistan. No
one would have expected that the elections fwould be
such a success story. Undoubtedly, this was one of the
most historic moment in the contemporary history of
Afghanistan. Not only was this election historical, but
also likely to set an important milestone in
Afghanistan’s transition and its progress towards
becoming a democratic polity.
There was so much pessimism about the future of
Afghanistan, as could be seen from the multiple reports
during the last one year in terms of what would happen
to Afghanistan once the international security forces
leave in 2014. There were questions also about the
ability of the Afghans to take the transition process
ahead as the draw down comes closer. The elections is
a partial, but a positive answer, signaling a slow but a
steady transition.
The first round of elections in choosing the next
President took place in a particular geo-political
environment. Karzai’s tenure as the President comes to
an end with no possibility of him being elected for a
third time legally. Though Karzai could not “appoint” his
successor, he had allowed the electoral process to
decide who would be the next President. This election
was special, for the simple reason, there were not many
such examples in the recent decades in the history of
Afghanistan.
When was the last time, a ruler in Afghanistan, allowed
an electoral process to choose his successor? Mullah
Omar, Najibullah, Babrak Karmal, Nur Taraki, Daoud
Khan, Zahir Shah—the history of succession in
Afghanistan in the last hundred years has been more
through coup, forcible ouster and exile with so much of
blood shed; political and peaceful transition has never
been a part of the Afghanistan’s history from one rule
to another. That is why this election is so important
and a milestone in the history of Afghanistan.
Second, the security, political and geographic
environment was not that conducive, when the elections
took place during the first week of April 2014. The
security situation within Afghanistan and the regional
security situation outside were not too positive.
Consider the following in this context: the Afghan nation
is deeply polarised along the ethnic lines – the
pashtuns, Uzbeks, Tajiks and the Hazaras. The internal
peace process vis-a-vis the Taliban has not made any
major breakthrough; nor there has been a great success
in the efforts of the international community to
“discover” the good Taliban and strike a successful
dialogue with them.
In terms of external security, Karzai refused to sign the
Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) with the United
States, following which the latter had threatened to cut
the aid and military support to Afghanistan. Even more
importantly, relations with Pakistan had hit a low and
were yet to recover when the elections took place.
And then, there has been another great question: are
the Afghans ready for democracy? The April elections
and the Afghan vote have to be interpreted in the above
background. The Afghan nation seems to be on a
positive road towards the transition. What are the
challenges ahead? Will they be able to convert the
positive elections into a successful transition and draft
a new history?