DUSHANBE, August 17, 2009, Asia-Plus — Tajik independent expert Hakim Abdullo Rahnamo is not optimistic about the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan that is scheduled to be held on August 20.
According to him, today’s fate of Afghanistan is being decided from outside. “The practice of recent decades has shown that management of government of the third world country from outside does not promote development and stability of it,” Rahnamo said.
The expert says that instability and tension will continue in Afghanistan after the election because “the coalition forces of the NATO member nations to maintain peace in this country divide the Afghan people into “our people” and extremists-terrorists.”
“Under these conditions Tajikistan’s position regarding Afghanistan should be more considered,” said Rahnamo, “We should be with all Afghans, not dividing them into groups. Sooner or later foreign troops will leave Afghanistan, while we will continue to live in the neighborhood of the people of this country.”
On the upcoming presidential election in Afghanistan, the expert said that the situation there would become aggravated ahead and after the election.
“Under the present situation in Afghanistan, It does not matter who will win the election,” said Rahnamo, “The most important is whether all sections of Afghan society, irrespective of their political creed, will participate in the election.”
The presidential election in Afghanistan is scheduled to be held on August 20, 2009. This will be the country”s second democratic election. The previous election in 2004 was by President Hamid Karzai, who is running for reelection. On the same day, provincial councils will be elected.
On March 11, 2009, NATO officials announced that 15.6 million voters had registered to vote, roughly half of the country”s population. 35 to 38 percent of the registered voters were women.
These registration numbers have been disputed, however, by the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan and media reports, which suggest some fraudulent activity in the registration process. The Taliban
called for a boycott of the election, describing it as a “program of the crusaders.”
