Afghan National or Non-National Election; What is the Taliban’s View?
Recently, Taliban vowed that election is an American process in Afghanistan, saying they will disrupt the upcoming elections. In addition, Taliban called on the Afghan people to boycott the election.
Recently, Taliban vowed that election is an American process in Afghanistan, saying they will disrupt the upcoming elections. In addition, Taliban called on the Afghan people to boycott the election.
Meanwhile, a number of MPs said that embassies in Afghanistan are seeking to send their trusted representatives to the House of Representatives (Wolesi Jirga).
In response to the allegations about America’s interference in the parliamentary election, the US ambassador to Kabul John Bass said that “this is not an American process, and only 20 American advisers are working on election affairs in Afghanistan”. This comes as America has played a prominent role in the past Afghan elections.
But, Is the Afghan election really an American process? The nature of this allegation is completely different for the Taliban and parliamentarians. Taliban wants “Islamic Emirate” and generally opposes the election process required by a democratic system. Taliban regards democracy as a Western system and believes that it is against the religion of Islam. Based on Talabani’s thinking, the only system of governance is the Islamic Emirate.
In this type of thinking, the caliph takes over the affairs on the basis of the Muslims’ allegiance. The allegiance here never means voting as the electoral process in a democracy. Moreover, in this type of vote, only Muslims can vote or give allegiance to the emir.
The representatives’ view about the non-national election process in Afghanistan means it is not public. A number of parliamentarians believe that the election is only a ceremonial show, and those people enter the Afghan parliament who are trusted by the involved states, not the people of Afghanistan.
To make matters worse, according to the accusation, most candidates do not enter the Afghan parliament through the will of the people, but by the support of foreign embassies.
Concerns over the non-national process of the election, especially the House of Representatives, is very serious; because the parliament has the highest position in a democratic system. The parliament’s position is key due to the power it has. The most important of these powers are legislation, observing the government and its departments, and positioning foreign policy.
These jurisdictions indicate the importance of the parliament. So, a number of countries in the world are seeking to have influence over the House of representatives in other countries. This way, they can adjust the laws in accordance with their national interests in Afghanistan and set up the foreign policy in accordance with their will through the representatives.
The United States has played a major role in the Afghan election in recent years. The formation of a national unity government with the mediation of the United States, unlike the Afghan constitution, has proved that the United States can easily act against the will of the Afghan people. This exercise is also due to its excessive influence in the Afghan election.
with this in mind, it can be said that concerns over the non-national election process in Afghanistan are somehow right. With all this, it should be noted that considering the election in Afghanistan as an American process should be based on democracy, not a Talibani view.
According to the first glance, the Afghan people must pay attention about the candidates and to whom they vote; Because these representatives are the ones who will play the main role in the evolution of their social, economic and political life.
Mahdi Sarbaz
Translated by Taher Mojab
