Afghan democracy takes its teetering steps
Fang Zhou  Updated: 2004-10-14 08:49

Having endured nearly three long dark years, only marginally better than the preceding period under the rule of the ousted Taliban regime, Afghanistan is now embracing a nascent democracy.

As millions of Afghan people, especially women - once prohibited from even leaving their homes unaccompanied, let alone engage in political activities during the reign of the Taliban - lined up at scattered polling stations on Saturday to vote for their country's new leader. The first secret ballot since the late 1960s, there was no doubt that a new page had opened for the impoverished nation, racked in recent times by warring tribes and for whom freedom and democracy must have seemed an unattainable goal.

The boycott announcement by 15 opposition candidates earlier exposed flaws in the country's fledgling democratic process. They accused the election of being chequered with fraud and irregularities, and refused to accept the result.

But the immediate efforts of the Afghan-UN Joint Electoral Management Body and a recently established three-member independent panel to examine irregularities, has demonstrated the country's determination to press on with the election.

Shortly after these measures were taken, the majority of the dissenting candidates did a volte-face and agreed to recognize the outcome. This also demonstrated their willingness to bring their war-ravaged country back on a normal political track as soon as possible.

Since the US launched a military assault in Afghanistan to destroy the Taliban regime, accused of providing bases and sanctuary to al-Qaida and Osama bin Laden, mastermind of the September 11 terror attack on the United States, the Central Asian country has been in turmoil.

Ongoing terrorist violence following the intervention put the country's post-Taliban democratic process, which Washington promised and mapped, in doubt.

That the planned elections finally took place against a backdrop of terrorist threats, Afghanistan's very difficult terrain, adverse weather conditions in several provinces and other severe challenges, is unquestionably a landmark event, worthy of celebration.

The massive turn-out by voters and their courage and enthusiasm to cast their votes augur well for the country.

However, the presidential election does not mean that democracy has taken deep root in Afghanistan.

(China Daily)

Close