Afghan Youth Debates: "Elections Only Way to Peace"

Law lecturer Abdul Wahab Tayeb has told students in Kandahar that elections are the only way Afghanistan can move on and achieve piece.

He was speaking at an IWPR youth debate earlier this month in the southern city of Kandahar, one of a series of events held at universities around Afghanistan as part of programme work designed to increase youth participation in presidential and provincial elections scheduled for April 2014.

Professor Tayeb said that in the Islamic context, elections could be traced back to the early days after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. In modern times, everyone was under an obligation to vote for candidates who were committed to the national interest and stability – and whose “hands are not stained with blood”.

Mohammad Rahim Bashardost and Jamil Afghan are students at Kandahar University.

This report was produced as part of Open Minds: Speaking Up, Reaching Out – Promoting University and Youth Participation in Afghan Elections, an IWPR initiative funded by the US embassy in Kabul.