Rural Afghans lack awareness on elections

Sitting around a wood fire oven in a village bakery in Dar-e-Zargar, Magul and her fellow women know very little about Afghanistan's first ever direct presidential elections, to be held in less than a week's time. Although all eligible members of her family had voting cards, they still didn't know who was who amongst the 18 presidential candidates. "We have neither radio or TV, nor can we go outside our homes to listen to the candidates in public," the 45-year-old housewife told IRIN in the Paghman district, 26 km west of the capital, Kabul. While there is no shortage of enthusiasm among Afghans, a lack of information has already prompted many rural inhabitants to seek advice from village leaders, commanders and shuras (local community councils) on whom they should vote for. "I will vote for whoever my husband votes for and he will vote according to the decision of our village elders," Magul conceded. There have been only a handful of rallies and debates. Most of the rallies and debates have taken place in Kabul and just a few other cities. Instead, candidates have spent most of their time meeting tribal elders who can guarantee to deliver hundreds of votes. Noorulhaijan, another resident of Paghman, told IRIN that all his villagers had agreed to vote unanimously for the person they believed could deliver prospects for a better future. "We agreed to vote for anyone who is a Muslim and who brings national unity and a good economy," the former combatant of years of civil war said. However, none of the villagers said exactly who they would vote for. Some said they would vote for ex-king Zahir Shah, who is now called the father of the nation. But he is in his late eighties and is not running in the election. According to Aghajan, a prominent religious leader in Paghman, after decades of war and political crisis most Afghans need assistance and information in order to participate in their country's first ever democratic exercise. "In my observation, 80 percent of the people seek advice from imams, shuras and often local commanders on who they should vote for," the 70-year-old clergyman told IRIN. Aghajan said he had preached in community gatherings and mosques about the elections over the past weeks. "I advise people to be very careful about who they vote for. They should ask for information but not listen to any orders or requests." He said he was receiving frequent requests from some of the presidential candidates or powerful people supporting them to encourage voters in their favour. "I was told today by one of the presidential candidates to encourage people towards his cause," he said. Aghajan had also received a letter from a powerful warlord asking him to meet one of the presidential candidates. "I am sharing all of these things with the public along with alerting them to be very careful," he said. While voter registration numbers have been widely touted, voter education has been given neither the time nor the resources it required, according to a new survey by the Kabul-based Human Rights Research and Advocacy Consortium (HRRAC). "Only 14 percent of the 700 Afghans we interviewed in five major Afghan cities said they had received any voter education. Only half of the people who answered our questionnaire can name even two candidates for the presidential polls," Horia Mosadiq, HRRAC's deputy project director, told IRIN. The HRRAC survey calls for an increase in civic education so that Afghans are able not only to cast their votes in full awareness of the issues, but also to begin to fulfil the rights and responsibilities that citizenship entails.