Current President Hamid Karzai is considered the favorite although his performance in office has been widely criticized and his lead over his challengers is not as strong as it once was. There is also the problem of the Taliban militants, who have called for a boycott of the election and have stepped up attacks.

Democratic elections are of enormous historical importance for the future of Afghanistan. The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has proven itself highly inefficient, as illustrated by the steady decline of the country's economy as well as a dramatic worsening of the security situation. Karzai has lost a great deal of the public's trust.

In addition, election preparations got underway too late and the date set by the constitution for the poll could not be kept. In order to avoid a power vacuum in an already unstable country, Afghanistan's Supreme Court made the controversial decision to allow Karzai to continue governing with full power although he lacked democratic legitimation.

Despite all that, it is expected that the Aug. 20 election can lead to greater stability in Afghanistan and help cool hot heads in a politically difficult environment. For those countries who have troops in the region and are deeply engaged in rebuilding the country after so many years of conflict, it is especially important that these elections are a success.

Difficult journey

The efforts put in place to ensure a smooth election have been enormous. The election's price tag of $220 million is, by Afghanistan's standards, gigantic.

In the run-up to the vote, FEFA, the Free and Fair Election Foundation of Afghanistan, registered numerous violations. For example, the state-controlled media has given noticeably more time and space to the campaign of President Karzai than it has to his opponents. In almost every region of the country, journalists have been threatened, kidnapped or arrested arbitrarily.

While democratic elections, even under difficult conditions, are necessary for the development of the country in a more peaceful and prosperous direction, they are not enough. The ethnic, religious and political society of this fragmented, multiethnic nation is anything but stable. Afghanistan is highly dependent on support from the international community.

Democracy, in this country with no democratic tradition to speak of, must first be institutionalized through the strengthening of its democratic institutions, the support of a civil society and above all, through fostering democratically oriented political parties.

Democratic deficit

That will be a challenge, since the current political parties have shown serious deficits, such as a lack of democratic experience and a rather vague concept of democracy itself. In addition, they lack stable party structures as well as large bases of support among the population.

In Afghanistan, cohesion is still largely based on tribal affiliation rather than on any sense of national unity. Such feeling has been consistently tapped into by politicians seeking to further their own interests.

Making people feel that they are not primarily a member of a clan but, above all, equal members of a democratic society is a long and sometimes tedious process. But establishing an institutional mooring of the rudiments of democracy is the most important task the country's future leaders have in front of them.

Democracy is not a manufactured product; in fact, it is one of the most difficult and complex governing forms there is. But there is no other real option for Afghanistan than to continue firmly down the rocky path of democratic development toward what one hopes will finally be peace.

Author: Said Musa Samimy (jam)
Editor: Rob Mudge