Afghans ready to vote despite Taliban threats and corruption

KABUL – Most Afghans will return to the polls for Saturday's legislative elections, hoping to make changes to a corrupt government that has lost nearly half of the country to the Taliban.

Kandahar voters, however, will have to wait a week after the assassination of the province's police chief, which will postpone the vote.

In the last eight years since the last parliamentary elections in Afghanistan, Taliban rebels have been launching near-daily attacks on security forces, capturing large swathes of the countryside and threatening the cities. An even more radical member of the Islamic State has launched a series of bomb attacks targeting the country's Shia minority, killing hundreds. Both groups threatened to attack anyone taking part in the vote.

In areas where the government still provides relative security, Afghans face a range of different challenges. Widespread corruption forces people to pay bribes for lousy public services, and increasingly influential ultraconservative friars attribute the country's many ills to years of Western influence, threatening to stave off corruption. Cancel the limited gains made by women and civil society since the 2001 invasion by the United States.

Many of those Afghans who have the courage to challenge death threats hope to vote for a new generation of younger, better-trained leaders. But they fear that former warlords and the corrupt political elite will cling to power by producing entertainment and distributing money to impoverished voters.

"I still do not think it will be right," said Saeed Matin, a fruit salesman in a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in Kabul, who had to face the cold autumn evening. He dismissed Taliban threats and said he hoped for new leadership, by showing campaign posters showing younger candidates.

"They are young and educated and I would like to be able to do something, but I'm 100% afraid that warlords and corrupt people will not give them a chance," he said. "These corrupt people pay 3,000 Afghans (about $ 50) for every vote, they are not interested in the country, but what they can put in their pocket."

Afghanistan is ranked among the most corrupt countries in the world by Transparency International, which last year described the efforts of President Ashraf Ghani's government to stop "fugitive" short-lived corruption. Poor governance has also hindered Washington's efforts to find a peaceful solution to the 17-year war – the longest in the history of the United States – which cost more than 2,400 lives and more than $ 900 billion. dollars in the United States.

The Taliban emphasize the government's dysfunction as proof of its illegitimacy and have rejected international demands to engage in peace talks with the Kabul authorities, whom they regard as Western puppets. They say that they will only negotiate directly with the United States, which they regard as an occupying power.

Religious conservatives, even those who did not take up arms, are increasingly echoing the Taliban's rhetoric, claiming that years of Western influence had eroded the country's values ​​- a mix of 39 Islamic teachings and tribal traditions – causing a collapse of society.

Abdul Wadood Pedram, who heads the organization for human rights and the eradication of violence, said religious clerics use their weekly sermons in the capital's mosques for safety and security. to oppose Western influence.

"Our society is becoming more and more radical, day after day, because the government has no control over mosques and madrassas (religious schools)," he said. He said religious people routinely complained about women's participation in the labor market – a vivid spot in Afghanistan's recent history – as well as against independent media and human rights activists. 39; man.

Despite generalized pessimism, analysts and activists say the elections – which have been delayed for three years due to insecurity – have an important message to convey to the Taliban that the political system, despite the fact that they are in power. unpopularity of the current government, is here to stay.

"It is very important to tell the Taliban that the government is working, that the Afghan institutions are working and that the political process … is working as well," said Haroun Mir, a Kabul-based analyst. "It will be a clear message to the insurgents and the Taliban that they must face the political process accepted by the majority of the Afghan people."

Wasima Badghisy is working on the final preparations for the vote in the strongly reinforced offices of the Independent Electoral Commission.

"Young people are voting for the first time and many are worried about corruption, but they believe it is important to participate," she said. "They think it will take time, but gradually, at each election, things will improve.For many, this election is like a practice for their future.Their energy inspires me to try to make it a reality. ;improve."

The most urgent concern is security. Earlier this week, the Taliban warned students and teachers not to vote and not allow their schools to be used as polling stations. Militant attacks killed seven candidates before and after the start of the 20-day campaign. Two candidates were kidnapped, their fate is unknown and three others were wounded by the violence.

On Thursday, the powerful Afghan provincial police chief of Kandahar, General Abdul Raziq, was killed along with at least one other senior provincial official, during a shameless attack by one of their guards during A meeting to discuss security before the vote. The Taliban claimed the act, saying their target was US General Scott Miller, commander of US and NATO troops in Afghanistan, unharmed.

As a result of the attack, the Afghan Independent Electoral Commission postponed polling in the province on Friday for a week.

Fears of security have already forced the commission to close about 2,000 polling stations. He canceled the vote in 11 of the country's 400 or so districts, as well as throughout eastern Ghazni Province, where the Taliban controlled the countryside and besieged the provincial capital for five days in July. More than 50,000 security forces will be deployed to defend the polling stations.

According to Badghisy, with 8.8 million registered voters, voter turnout will reflect Afghan confidence in the system.

"If 5 million voters show up, it will be fine," she said. "Those who vote, I think that they are very, very brave."

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Amir Shah, an Associated Press reporter in Kabul, Afghanistan, contributed to this report.