Steep Learning Curve for Political Parties

Under the canopy of a traditional tent in the Afghan capital Kabul, Dr Mohammed Haroon Nuhzat posed a question to his audience - “Define democracy.”

“People's government of the people," answered one man, sitting cross-legged on the carpeted floor.

"Freedom of speech and respect for one another," offered another, sitting at the back of the audience.

"You are both right," answered Nuhzat.

And so began a workshop conducted by the United States’ National Democratic Institute, NDI, designed to teach political party activists the rudiments of taking part in an election.

NDI has been working in Afghanistan since March 2002, and currently has 32 trainers working in the capital as well as seven other provinces - Kandahar, Bamian, Khost, Herat, Kunduz, Mazar-e-Sharif and Nangarhar.

After more than 20 years of conflict, the October 9 presidential election and the parliamentary election scheduled for next April represent a sea-change in Afghan politics.

People in Afghanistan have no experience of the mechanics of elections. The concept of an election campaign, secret ballot, universal suffrage and strong political party structures are all new.

The workshop, aimed at the most politically active in Afghan society, started exploring some of these core concepts. Dr Nuhzat explained to the 101 participants that such training was crucial since democratic elections are such a new concept, "Democracy did not exist in Afghanistan previously. You should bring democracy to your country because under all previous governments, people were used as tools."

Afghan political groups can be divided into the strong – generally backed by an armed militia and originally formed as anti-Soviet mujahedin resistance groups - and the weaker but more numerous non-military parties, which have a tenuous existence outside Kabul and few of the resources needed to win broader popular support.

NDI has been working to help parties build their infrastructures and present effective election campaigns. On this occasion, its audience was drawn from four diverse groups, including two of the smaller parties, Saadat-e-Milli and Tanzim-e-Dawat-e-Islami; Harakat-e-Islami, a larger, mainly Shia group that was once a mujahedin faction, and whose leader Mohammed Asif Muhseni is a supporter of President Hamed Karzai; and campaign workers from the team of independent presidential candidate Abdul Hasib Arian.

In addition, 41 members of Hizb-e-Wahdat, the major Shia Hazara party supporting presidential candidate Haji Mohammad Mohaqeq, made an unexpected appearance.

While some of the time was spent talking about how political parties are structured, much of the discussion centred on the mechanics of conducting a free and fair election.

Asked to define an election, one audience member said, "the participation of people in choosing their president and their future". Another offered a broader view, saying the vote allowed "the involvement of people in their future".

One of the 15 women present asked whether party workers would be allowed to influence voters on election day. Dr Nuhzat assured her that “there are election observers and they won't let any infringement be committed".

The workshop included a mock presidential campaign and election, with the audience divided into three fictional political groups – the Black, Green and Red parties - and a group of voters.

After the “parties” each nominated a presidential candidate, these individuals presented their policies to the voters.

Then it was time for the vote, complete with ballot boxes and election observers from each party. As will happen in the real elections, voters had a hole punched in their cards and an ink-mark stamped on their thumbs to stop them voting twice.

The voters then went to a polling booth, circled the name of their chosen candidate, and dropped the paper in the ballot box.

Everyone watched as the 82 ballots were counted and the results revealed. The winner was a woman nominated by the Black party, with 47 votes. Five ballot papers were declared invalid.

One participant quipped that the result “means that Massouda Jalal [the only female presidential candidate] will win the election”.

Afterwards, Ghulam Ahmad Belal, a member of Arian’s campaign team, was full of praise for the exercise, "As it's the first time people in Afghanistan have experienced elections, this kind of workshop is very helpful.”

At the end, some of the participants prayed together – people from different parties, and ethnic backgrounds, both Sunni and Shia.

Jawad Sharifzada is a staff reporter for IWPR in Kabul.