Afghanistan Times
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At the eve of the legislative and district council elections, a number of people representing political parties and civil society bodies called on the national unity government to pay attention to their demands over brining electoral reforms and guarantee the transparency of the elections.
As a country stepping up towards democracy and people-owned and people-led political and governance system, Afghanistan needs to be the home and place of people with different and even sometimes touching viewpoints.
We need to listen to each other and try to convince each other because we are working to institutionalize democracy for ourselves and as a useful and honorable legacy for the next generations.
Unfortunately, the last presidential election (held in 2014) was full of fraud, according to national and international electoral watchdogs. This almost discouraged people to attend the election and vote. This is now the government to attract again the people’s trust and interest to this national and very important process by paving the ground for the transparent and fair election. People accept big risks just to vote for the persons who they think can serve them and the country. They lived their fingers, were threatened and even arrested and killed just for voting.
The articles offered by the political parties are good and reformist and the government is requested to pay attention to these suggestions as they are in the benefit of both government and people, the government is saved from criticisms and allegations if it brings electoral reforms and people can get the chance to send their trustworthy representatives to the legislative body and fraud will be prevented.
Meanwhile, it was one of the hundreds of promises that today’s leaders of the government had been shouting during their electoral campaigns. The candidates in the 2014 presidential election and their deputies and aides frequently promised to bring some necessary changes, reforms and amendments to the electoral body and law so that fraud could be prevented.
Now that the unity government is also spending its last year, it has to fulfill just a little part of its promises and present an electoral model that everybody including its political critics and opposition accept and there be no critical word.
Otherwise, we will once again witness fraud in the election that will absolutely disappoint people to go to voting stations and work for just a dream democracy.
