Successful turnout for women's election

As elections for the Loya Jirga continue across Afghanistan, a successful turnout for the women's nominations in the southern city of Kandahar was reported on Sunday. "We are very pleased with the turnout. As you can see, more and more women are nominating themselves, and this is also surprising for us," Mohammad Umar Satai, a member of the local election commission told IRIN in Kandahar city. This was the first phase of the election in which a total of 28 female candidates of a possible 60 were nominated. The second phase, in which five seats will be contested, is due to take place on 2 June. In a hall at a local school packed full of women, the candidates took it in turns to deliver speeches to the all-female audience about why they should be voting for them. And these women were not shy about expressing themselves in a country where they have been shunned and repressed for years. Some shouted at the top of their voices and others became very emotional when they shared the pain they endured during more than two decades of war. "I want to help my sisters in Kandahar. We have all suffered the pain together and now it is time to give a voice to women," one candidate, Jamila, aged 50, told IRIN. "I want to ensure peace for women and promote women's rights," a mother of four, Malalai, told IRIN. She had distributed 2,000 leaflets as part of her campaign to encourage women to vote for her. For the first time in more than 10 years, female police were on standby at the event. Dressed in their deep green uniforms consisting of baggy trousers covered by a skirt, a shirt and tie, and complete with a headscarf in observance of cultural practices, they stood proud. "This is a great honour for me to be here and protect our women," one female officer said as she patrolled the room. With fears of interference during the election in the former Taliban stronghold, who had banned women from work and education, UN election observers were on standby monitoring the process. "The election went smoothly considering it was women only. We were happy with the outcome, and there were no irregularities," an international monitor for the Loya Jirga, Cyrus Hodes, told IRIN. According to the commission, there was only one incident: a woman received a threat pinned to her front door saying that her life could be in danger if she participated in the event. The incident was reported to the election commission and police. But it did not deter her from attending. "I won't let them scare me away. I've thrown away my burka [all-enveloping veil] and I will stand in this election," Nafisa told IRIN. "We have taken this threat very seriously and have provided the lady with security," Satai said. He added that there had been evidence of leaflets being distributed in the city calling on people not to participate in the Loya Jirga. "These [leaflets] have not been successful, because people want change," he told IRIN. The number of female candidates in the southern region has been a welcome surprise for the commission and observers alike. One woman was elected in the province of Helmand along with four in Oruzgan Province. The Loya Jirga, comprising 1,500 representatives, of whom a minimum of 160 will be women, will convene on 10 June in the capital, Kabul.