MERIP
Media Resource List, September 16, 2005
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS
on the following topics:
- Afghanistan's National Assembly and provincial council election,
September 18
NAZIF
SHAHRANI
Nazif
Shahrani is professor of anthropology and Central Asian and
Middle Eastern studies at Indiana University, Bloomington.
Shahrani has written on and traveled in Afghanistan extensively.
Recent publications include “War, Factionalism and the State
in Afghanistan,” American Anthropologist (September
2002). He commented today: "People in Afghanistan have
been talking about a number
of troubling issues regarding the upcoming parliamentary and
provincial councils election. For example, since there are
only about 12 million registered voters and each voter will
cast a single ballot, why has the government printed 40 million
ballots? How will the rest of the printed ballots be used?
A coalition of political parties and the Union of Independent
Candidates have taken to the streets demanding that the ballots
should be counted in their local precincts and not be moved
to regional ballot counting centers as they could be tampered
with while in transit. There are also concerns regarding
post-election realities -- will the elected members have the
capacity to fulfill their constitutional mandates? Will
they contribute to improving democratic governance or hinder
it? Will the composition of Parliament truly reflect
the diversity of Afghan society? "
NISHA
VARIA
Nisha Varia is Asia researcher
in the Women's Rights Division of Human Rights Watch. She
has conducted research in Afghanistan and is currently co-coordinating
a team that has interviewed dozens of women candidates around
the country. She commented today: "Given the appalling
state of women's rights just a few years ago under the Taliban,
the participation of women as candidates in the upcoming election
is an important step forward. But women continue to face serious
obstacles to full participation. Women candidates share the
challenges of a poor security situation with men, but additionally
confront the risks associated with conservative social norms.
Although both the National Assembly and provincial councils
stipulate that 25 percent of seats are reserved for women,
only 10 percent of candidates are women. Some male candidates
are commanders or former Taliban associated with grave human
rights abuses. Women are primarily running as independents
because they see the political parties as tainted by past
war crimes. However, once elected, the lack of party machinery
backing them up will make their work in the government that
much more difficult."
Background
:
+
Human Rights Watch, "Campaigning Against Fear: Women's
Participation in Afghanistan's 2005 Elections," August
2005.
http://hrw.org/backgrounder/wrd/afghanistan0805/index.htm
+
Nazif Shahrani, "Afghanistan's Presidential Elections:
Spreading Democracy or a Sham?" Middle East Report
Online , October 8, 2004.
http://www.merip.org/mero/mero100804.html
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