Poll: Power Monopoly Seen as Main Obstacle to Inclusive Government in Afghanistan

According to the results of a recent poll conducted by DID Press News Agency, majority of participants identified the Taliban’s monopoly on power as the primary barrier to the formation of an inclusive government in Afghanistan.

The poll, aimed at assessing public opinion on internal obstacles to inclusive governance, offered four response options. The results are as follows:

•  Monopoly of power by the Taliban caretaker government: 50%
 
•  Lack of political will to decentralize power: 28%
 
•  Interference by regional and international actors: 17%
 
•  Ethnic and linguistic divisions: 5%

These findings indicate that half of the respondents believe power concentration at the hands of the Taliban cartaker administration—along with its refusal to include other political, ethnic, and social groups—is the biggest impediment to establishing an inclusive political system in the country.

Political analysts argue that the absence of legal frameworks based on participation, the lack of free elections, and the government’s rejection of national dialogue have severely hindered the transition toward a legitimate and representative state.

Meanwhile, nearly one-third of respondents cited the lack of genuine political will to nationalize power as the second most significant obstacle—reflecting, in their view, either an inability or unwillingness among domestic actors to move beyond traditional power structures.

Although the role of regional and international interference is acknowledged as a contributing factor, it carries less weight in public perception compared to internal challenges.

This poll comes at a time when the international community has repeatedly emphasized the need for an inclusive government in Afghanistan, considering it a fundamental precondition for the recognition of the current caretaker government.