The preliminary result of the June 14 run-off of Afghanistan presidential election, which was scheduled to be announced on Wednesday, was postponed on Tuesday at a short notice. The country's election commission said that this was done to allow ballots in 2,000 centres checked. This may take several days.
Afghanistan's rival presidential candidates have ratcheted up tensions ahead of the announcement of the election results. The country is also witnessing an escalation of violence by the Islamic militants. The two problems appear as big challenges for the Kabul government when the US-led NATO troops are scheduled to leave the war-ravaged country by the end of the current year.
With two candidates in the run-off elections, former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah and former World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani, being at loggerheads, the results look set to tip Afghanistan into a risky period of street protests and uncertainty. While the former is contesting the fairness of the on-going counting of the votes, the later is seen as a favourite nominee of the outgoing president Hamid Karzai. Abdullah, who once contested unsuccessfully against Karzai for the highest position, won the first round of the presidential polls against Ghani. His supporters allege that Abdullah's victory is certain in the run-off voting, but "conspiracies" were being hatched to deny him the well-deserved win.
Fighting between the Islamic militants in one side and the Afghan government and NATO troops on the other seems to be on the increase during the current season. Two sides are engaged in the long-drawn battle across the country and both claim successes in their fighting. The Talebans have of late widened their attack, especially in southern Afghanistan. While the war is often characterised by relative lull in the battlefields, the militants are launching some daring attacks during last few days. They call it "seasonal" offensive and are seeking to mount pressure on their opponents to quit Afghanistan. The NATO and the Afghan forces are taking no chance and are preparing for any situation, particularly during the current season. "As the season changes, we have more fighting than the winter," says an Afghan defence ministry spokesman.
A military spokesman of the NATO also echoed the same views and says that several incidents only show that the seasonal change brings bigger confrontation among the contending parties. However, the NATO and the Kabul government foresee quick fall in the intensity of the war in the coming days as they feel things are going in their ways. Well, it is a see-saw game and the success in the war-front often swings the fortunes.
Several Taleban attacks in recent times have raised fears about the security in the sensitive areas in the conflict-ridden Afghanistan. The capital came under coordinated attack in last few weeks with explosions and gunfire rocking the key areas. Some time ago, a daring attack in a secured hotel in Kabul killed, among others, a Bangladeshi former high-ranking UN official Dr. Wasim Zaman while he was on a working mission to the Afghan capital. President Hamid Karzai has blamed "poor" NATO intelligence work for the Taleban attack.
It is understandable that the militants can not hold on to the areas or buildings which they may occupy in sudden attacks as NATO and the Afghan government forces command huge military strength. But the very fact that the militants were able to launch such attack in the high security "Green Zone" is a pointer to their prowess that is often under-estimated by the NATO and the Kabul government. This is one of the most daring attacks in the capital in the "fighting season".
During the latest attacks, many suicide bombers were also involved and the militants claim that their objectives of the attack have been achieved. Fighting increases in the warmer spring and summer months as snow melts in the mountainous passages along the Pakistan border where most of the Taleban leaders are hiding, according to Afghan authorities and NATO.
The NATO plans to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan by 2014 and the security of the country would be handed over to the Afghan government authorities. This raises a question: whether cessation of the war would be possible by that time and if the Kabul government troops would be able to withstand the assaults of the militants. The NATO says it would be possible to quit the war-ravaged country by the timeframe set by them. But the US is planning to keep some units of its armed forces even after 2014 under a bilateral agreement with Kabul, which president Karzai has so far not approved. Both the presidential candidates have, however, supported the bilateral accord proposed by the US in varying degrees. But, now the outcome of the election itself is hanging in the balance with frontrunner Abdullah boycotting the "blatant fraud" of counting. This has jeopardised the possibility of the first democratic transfer of power in Afghanistan as the country faces the twin crises of internal political instability and increased Taleban attacks.
zaglulchowdhury@yahoo.com
Afghanistan: Will democratic transfer of power be possible?
Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury | Published: July 03, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2024 06:01:00
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